Nurses want to take Govt to court over slashed pay

THE Namibia Nurses’ Union (Nanu) has started consulting its members with the hope of getting an overwhelming majority support to take Government to court over the decision to cut their payment in half for work done on Sundays and public holidays.

Nanu Secretary General Abner Shopati started a nationwide tour yesterday to get input from members on the union’s decision to legally challenge the Ministry of Health’s decision to reduce nurses’ Sunday and public holiday payments by half. The Ministry’s decision came into effect on April 1 this year.Nanu claims that the Labour Act says the rate must be double the normal hourly rate and the union received a legal opinion on the matter.”Nurses wanted to go on the streets but we are a responsible union.I am travelling countrywide to consult all members before we make the final decision.Therefore, it is important that all members attend our meetings,” Shopati told The Namibian before he departed for the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.He will consult union members in the regions until September 1.Shopati claimed that the Government’s decision to cut the payment even affected those who expected money for time worked between December last year and March 2006.”Their claims were in already when the decision was made but they were negatively affected,” Shopati said.He said the visit to all towns with State hospitals would help them better co-ordinate the legal challenge against the Ministry of Health.However, Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula said Shopati was “economical with the truth”.”There have been various interpretations of the Labour Act and we were overpaying the nurses as a result.However, Government introduced a new system that is being used by the Ministry of Finance.We no longer do calculations manually and many people are unhappy because they used to get overpaid,” Shangula said.He said the changes actually came into effect in 1998 already but the nurses continued to receive more than was due to them.”The Ministry reserves the right to claim back the money from them.They are owing the Government.Of course, it was not their fault,” he said.Shopati was recently elected as Nanu’s Secretary General.He was previously the union’s President.He said nurses were unhappy with the general treatment they received from the Ministry of Health.One example was the fact that doctors received fixed overtime on top of their salaries but continued to claim additional casualty overtime.Even medical interns were receiving salaries while nursing students had to work for free.Nanu was established by former Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) members who were not happy with how they were represented.The Ministry’s decision came into effect on April 1 this year.Nanu claims that the Labour Act says the rate must be double the normal hourly rate and the union received a legal opinion on the matter.”Nurses wanted to go on the streets but we are a responsible union.I am travelling countrywide to consult all members before we make the final decision.Therefore, it is important that all members attend our meetings,” Shopati told The Namibian before he departed for the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.He will consult union members in the regions until September 1.Shopati claimed that the Government’s decision to cut the payment even affected those who expected money for time worked between December last year and March 2006.”Their claims were in already when the decision was made but they were negatively affected,” Shopati said.He said the visit to all towns with State hospitals would help them better co-ordinate the legal challenge against the Ministry of Health.However, Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula said Shopati was “economical with the truth”.”There have been various interpretations of the Labour Act and we were overpaying the nurses as a result.However, Government introduced a new system that is being used by the Ministry of Finance.We no longer do calculations manually and many people are unhappy because they used to get overpaid,” Shangula said.He said the changes actually came into effect in 1998 already but the nurses continued to receive more than was due to them.”The Ministry reserves the right to claim back the money from them.They are owing the Government.Of course, it was not their fault,” he said.Shopati was recently elected as Nanu’s Secretary General.He was previously the union’s President.He said nurses were unhappy with the general treatment they received from the Ministry of Health.One example was the fact that doctors received fixed overtime on top of their salaries but continued to claim additional casualty overtime.Even medical interns were receiving salaries while nursing students had to work for free.Nanu was established by former Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) members who were not happy with how they were represented.