Doctors at various hospitals including the Helen Joseph in Johannesburg will picket over government’s poor salary offer during their lunch hour on Monday.
A doctor at the Helen Joseph hospital, Claudia de Waal, told Sapa the pickets were fuelled by government’s offer tabled at the bargaining council.
”Their offer was a seven or eight percent offer instead of the 50% which we deserve,” said De Waal.
This came as negotiations between the government and the South African Medical Association were still under way over the implementation of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) and the remuneration of doctors in the public sector.
”We are the ones who have to work under terrible conditions and taking no tea times, working 30 hours because of so many patients that need our attention… we can’t leave them,” said De Waal.
She said some patients would be affected by picketing as the clinic would be closed between 12.30pm and 1.30pm.
”We are only leaving emergency staff during this time. Patients who have to be attended to will have to wait until after our lunchtime picketing.”
Health department spokesperson Fidel Hadebe said the bargaining council would re-convene on Tuesday.
”The pickets in various parts of the country should not create a false impression that negotiations have deadlocked or that the department is not involved,” said Hadebe.
However, he could not immediately confirm which hospitals would be affected by these pickets.
Intern doctors at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital started picketing last week on Friday.
Last month, doctors resumed work after embarking on a three-week strike over the OSD which led to the health department issuing letters of dismissal.
The letters were replaced with final written warnings after an agreement was reached between all stakeholders which saw doctors agree to recommit themselves to the negotiation process and return to work. — Sapa