INTERNS PROTEST NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES BY LUTH MANAGEMENT

The House officers of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH took to the marble floor area of the hospital on the 2^nd of September, 2013 at about 8am in the morning to protest the non-payment of their 7 months salaries.

With chants and various placards showing “No work, no pay”, “We are Docs, not Dogs”, and many others, they decided to boycott their daily hospital activities.

In an interview with one of the interns, he described the situation as unjust, pathetic and unfair treatment by the LUTH management who has owed them since February this year.

In a recent development by the federal government, salaries from June this year are supposed to be paid directly to the health workers with the current IPPIS (integrated personnel and payroll information system)

and not through the LUTH management again who prior to June had been deducting a certain amount from their salaries. The IPPIS scheme will also be applicable to other federal hospitals across the country.

As of now, no payment from the LUTH or federal government however had taken effect.

The strike which has been described as indefinite will continue tomorrow. However, the LUTH management, represented by the Director of Administration, promises to get across to the aggrieved interns in 24 hours as he said he was not actually aware that some of the interns had not been paid since February.

Activities in the wards and clinics however were not completely paralyzed as the consultants, resident doctors, nurses and other health workers were at their duty posts attending to the patients.