UCH resident doctors embark on three-week strike

Members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan has embarked on a three-week industrial action.President of ARD-UCH, Abiodun Ogundipe, told journalists that the action was to demand their colleagues’ enrollment on the government’s payment platform.He said the strike commenced at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday to call the government’s attention to the plight of 250 association members.Mr Ogundipe said the members employed at UCH in May, were yet to be captured on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and had not received salaries.“Up till now, they were yet to be captured on the platform, which means there is no hope in sight for them. “This is why we have embarked on this industrial action to express our displeasure and also to plead with the government to help us facilitate this and ensure that our members are as soon as possible placed on the IPPIS platform so that life can be better for them,” he said.Mr Ogundipe said the strike would be for three weeks, hopefully, depending on when the issue would be resolved.”There are other national issues bordering on welfare which the government needs to address, and we are having a meeting tomorrow (Friday) to review them.“Already, we have a two-week ultimatum given to the federal government.“This is regarding some of our welfare issues and other matters that have been lingering for long,” he said.(NAN)