Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Nurses protest after dismissal over uniforms
NURSES from the Karl Bremer Hospital picketed on the stairs of the provincial legislature yesterday following the dismissal of two nurses over a uniform dispute.
The health professionals stood in front of the legislature in full uniform holding placards with messages which read, “no to unfair dismissal of nurses” and “nurses are the backbone of the health system”.
The pair joined the hospital in 2014 and 2015 respectively and were dismissed in 2016 following a dispute over gilet jackets the department said they could not wear in certain areas of the hospital. They say they have been to the labour department to have their dismissals overturned but to no avail.
“We have tried everything and all we are saying is that we were unfairly dismissed and the reason that we were given is that we had brought the department into disrepute,” said staff nurse Charlotte Petersen who had been a nurse for more than 30 years before she joined Karl Bremer where she served for a year.
Petersen told Weekend Argus that she had approached the South African Nursing Council for assistance in the matter. “They also could not understand how a gilet could be said to be a health risk.”
However, the provincial department of health denies any unlawful actions saying the matter went through a fair labour process. Spokesperson for the department Mark van der Heever told Weekend Argus that “numerous meetings were held, where they were informed and instructed to remove the gilet when working with open wounds in the High Care Unit and Clinical areas as it did not form part of the departmental dress code policy for nurses working in these areas.”
They were dismissed after they had received a final written warning for insubordination following meetings and the disciplinary process. This was supported by the Public Health Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council, he said.
asanda.sokanyile@inl.co.za