Unions await clarity from government over concerns

THE country’s two biggest unions in the health sector are waiting for the government to provide clarity on how the sector’s workers who will be at the forefront during the 21-day battle against Covid-19 will, among other things, be ferried around.

The concern by unions stems from the fact that nurses and doctors are among the essential workers required to continue working during the lockdown announced by the president.

For the Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa (Denosa), the questions go beyond that. The union also wants the government to clarify how nurses, some of whom are single parents, would be able to cope with work and taking care of their children.

Denosa’s spokesperson, Sibongiseni

Delihlazo, told Independent Media yesterday that most nurses were poorly paid and they relied on public transport for to and from work.

“This is the irony of it, because the majority of nurses have no cars due to the low salaries they earn, and for whom it would be extremely expensive to get to work when there were no taxis.

“This is the area that must be looked into to ensure that their work of saving the nation is made easier, because the majority work 12-hour shifts and knock off late (7am to 7pm),” he said.

Provinces were locked in marathon meetings yesterday and he was hopeful these questions would be answered.

“Many nurses are also single parents and they stay with their kids, so it will be extremely difficult for them to work while they are also worried about their children. Engagements are continuing, given that this announcement was made last night, but the life of nurses must not be more expensive because they have to work simply because other support systems have been disabled,” he said.

Kevin Halama, the spokesperson for the Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa), said it was too early for them to say much because their mother federation, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) was still meeting with Ramaphosa for a briefing yesterday on how the lockdown would be implemented, and where such measures such as transportation of health-care workers was being clarified, as well as which health professions were classified as essential staff.

However, Halama said they welcomed the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, saying that employees who fell ill while doing Covid-19-related work would be covered by the Compensation Fund and Unemployment Insurance Fund.