Health unions declare indefinite strike over salary adjustment delay

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly ofHealthcare Professional Associations have declared an indefinite nationwidestrike effective November 15, 2025. Members of JOHESU include the Medical and Health Workers’Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, the SeniorStaff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes andAssociated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational andAssociated Institutions. The industrial action was announced on Friday in a statementsigned by Kabiru Ado Minjibir, national chairman of JOHESU. The unions cited the federal government’s persistent failureto implement the adjusted consolidated health salary structure (CONHESS) andresolve longstanding welfare and systemic issues affecting health workers asthe reason for the strike. JOHESU added that while the delay in implementing theadjusted CONHESS was the principal trigger, several other unresolved issuesinformed the decision. “The crux of the matter in the present circumstance is thelong delay in the implementation of the High-Level Body (HLB) Committee’sreport on the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure since itssubmission to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022,” thestatement reads. “Nothing has been done by successive administrations toredress this infraction. Despite the well-advertised assurances of PresidentBola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, when a two-man delegation of JOHESU visited him onJune 5, 2023, to advance the FG’s resolve to get JOHESU to suspend its strike,this demand remains unattended to.” JOHESU added that delays were initially blamed on theabsence of the presidential committee on salaries, which had not beenreconstituted. The unions said even after its reconstitution, the matterwas not given priority attention until the last 48 hours, when the governmentappeared to take practical steps to address the prolonged delay. The unions recalled that they had earlier suspended strikeactions in June 2023 and October 2024 following presidential intervention andthe signing of a memorandum of understanding, but the government failed toimplement the agreed-upon resolutions. “Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from theFederal Government on some of these issues despite assurances during subsequentmeetings with relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies,” the statementreads. “There is no doubt that we have exhibited maturity,selflessness, and patriotism even in the face of extreme provocations and longdelays by the government, and we think that our maturity and patriotism havebeen taken for granted.” The unions called on their members nationwide to complystrictly with the strike directive and warned the government againstintimidation or sanctions. The strike coincides with the ongoing industrial action bythe Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over unpaid hazardallowance arrears, poor working conditions, and failure to implement agreedwelfare reforms.

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