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Lira, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The staff of Lira University Teaching Hospital have initiated an industrial action against the University over alleged salary disparities.
The industrial action which started on Monday 4, has seen only essential departments operating with minimal staffing levels at the Teaching Hospital which serves both the university and the wider community.
The protesting staff members under the umbrella of the National Union of Educational Institutions (NUEI)- Lira University branch cited the failure of the university to implement a directive issued by the Ministry of Public Service regarding salary adjustments. About 300 staff under different umbrella bodies have been affected by the salary disparity.
For instance, a nurse with a diploma who is currently receiving a net salary of 1.44 million Shillings with a gross of 2.09 million Shillings will under the revised salary structure receive a net salary of 2.3 million Shillings from a gross pay of 3.47 million Shillings.
The dispute has been brewing since September 2022 when the public service directed public universities to harmonize their salary structures across faculties and departments.
Phyllis Ocwa, the Lira Branch Secretary of NUEI who is also a radiographer at the University’s hospital explained that their efforts to engage with the administration have failed to yield. “I know when we rise like this and make a complaint, the next thing we are going to get is to be expelled from the university but how many people are you going to chase?” he questioned.
In October 2023, the NUEI-Lira University branch secretariat convened a general assembly which resolved to give a 60-day notice of industrial action demanding that new appointment letters be given as per new positions in the updated structure with the new salary effective July 1, 2023.
Ocwa underscored the union’s efforts to resolve the matter internally, adding that this has negatively affected their performance because most of them are not accommodated by the university.
On Tuesday afternoon, the university vice chancellor Prof. Jasper Ogwal-Okeng issued a statement acknowledging receipt of the industrial action notice and said those on strike are “hospital staff with Diploma qualifications only.”
According to the statement, “the Industrial Action has been taken with insufficient notice and without regard to due process.” The letter further states that the hospital is operating normally with other willing diploma staff.
“Lira University Teaching Hospital is not closed and services are running normally. All our doctors, degree nurses and midwives are at their stations alongside other willing diploma staff. We expect all staff of Lira University Teaching Hospital to report to duty as these matters are being handled with the Ministry of Public Service.”
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