Nurses and midwives under their umbrella body Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) have called off their strike.
The decision was reached after successful negotiations with the government to cater for their lunch allowances at Shs10,000 per day in the next financial year.
Last week, UNMU president Cherop Justus Kiplangat asked all nurses, midwives, and nursing assistants across the country to lay down their tools.
The industrial action was prompted by the government’s failure to fulfill its pledge of increasing their lunch allowances from the current Shs 2000 to Shs 15,000 per day.
Now the Ministry of Finance committed Shs44.9 billion (Shs.10,000 per day) to cater for the lunch allowances for 22 days per month in the next financial year.
Government also explained to the health workers that the president’s pledge to cater for their lunch allowances (Shs.15,000 per day) had not been fulfilled because of resource constraints.
Meanwhile, Medical Interns have threatened to go on strike next week if the government does not address their demands.
The interns want the government to increase their monthly allowance from 900,000 to the minimum wage of a U4 doctor which stands at 3 million Shillings.
In a statement released by the Federation for Uganda Medical Interns, the interns threatened to put down their tools because the government has continuously failed to fulfill its promises to the young medics.
Dr Lillian Mary Nabwire, the president of the federation says the strike is their last resort after all other attempts failed to yield results.
According to Nabwire, interns are working in very hard conditions where many of them cannot afford lunch or rent decent accommodations with the current allowance that they are receiving.
When contacted, the senior public relations spokesperson, Emmanuel Ainebyoona said they were not aware of the interns’ demands noting that when they get official communication, they shall be able to address the demands and find a way forward.
