The unions accused the hospital management of subjecting workers to stagnation and disguised demotion under the guise of promotion.
Workers at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria, have commenced an indefinite strike over what they described as an “illegal same-scale promotion” policy implemented during the hospital’s 2025 promotion exercise, crippling activities at the federal health institution.
It was gathered that workers – operating under the umbrella of the Joint Health Sector Unions and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, staged a mass demonstration on Tuesday, at institution’s premise paralysing activities in the hospital.
The workers chanted solidarity songs and displaying placards demanding an immediate reversal of the promotion exercise.
The unions accused the hospital management of subjecting workers to stagnation and disguised demotion under the guise of promotion.
The industrial action followed the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued to the management on April 27, 2026.
Addressing the protesters, the Enugu State Chairman of NANNM, represented by Comrade Innocent Ejike, declared that organised labour would resist what he called injustice against health workers.
“As far as we’re concerned, what is wrong will never stand. If they’re working against you, they’re working against all of us and we’ll never allow that to stand,” he said.
Ejike described the policy as a deliberate attempt to stagnate workers despite their successful participation in promotion examinations.
“There’s no way somebody will go through the rudiments and process of promotion exams and you still keep him in the same position. That is another name for stagnation,” he stated.
Another labour leader, Comrade Chukwuemeka Edwin, recalled a similar dispute at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Enugu in 2011, where workers resisted what he described as attempts to deny them promotion “skipping” under the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
According to him, workers promoted from CONHESS 10 to 11 were allegedly retained on the same salary level, while others moving from 11 to 12 also remained on their previous grade levels.
“What they did to us then was that people moving from CONHESS 10 to 11 were promoted to the same CONHESS 10, while those moving from 11 to 12 were retained on the same level of 11. We resisted it completely,” Edwin said.
“After 15 years of that dark era, we are now seeing the same thing being implemented at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu. It will never happen.”
He further described the implementation of same-scale promotion as “illegal,” insisting that healthcare promotions remained a “no-go area” for such policies.
The Chairman of the National Union of Allied Health Workers and Professionals in Enugu State, Asogwa Benjamin, said the unions resorted to strike action after exhausting all channels of dialogue with the hospital management.
“After the 21-day ultimatum, we still gave a grace period of two days. So, we are constrained to take up this last option,” he said.
Similarly, the Acting Chairman of NANNM in the hospital, Comrade Ajiri Okezie, insisted that promotion was a right and not a privilege.
“Promotion is not a privilege but a right. We consulted widely before taking this action. Until you hear from us, don’t come to work,” he told workers.
The Acting Chairman of JOHESU and leader of the Senior Staff Association, Cletus Nwankwo, also backed the strike, describing the workers’ action as justified.
In the ultimatum dated April 27, the unions accused the management of implementing what they termed “same-scale promotion” during the 2025 exercise, insisting that the exercise amounted to “stagnation and demotion” rather than genuine promotion.
The workers cited a 2017 circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Health following an agreement reached with JOHESU after a nationwide strike.
The circular, dated October 3, 2017, and signed on behalf of the Minister by Dr. W.D. Balami, directed all federal health institutions to abolish same-scale promotion in line with Public Service Rules.
According to union leaders, the current exercise at FNHE violates the 2017 agreement and established public service regulations governing promotions in the health sector.
Source: Sahara Reporters
