KOCHI: Hinting at a possible spread of nurses’ strike to other parts of the state, the Indian Registered Nurses Association (IRNA) on Tuesday held a token strike at Sacred Heart hospital, Pynkulam, in Idukki. A group of nurses who organised a silent sit-in protest by covering their mouths on the premises of the hospital were removed by the police. In the wake of the strike, about 60 inpatients were discharged from the hospital. If the demands put forth by the association are not accepted by the hospital management, IRNA will go ahead with an indefinite strike from Wednesday, said Jeeson M Y, IRNA state general secretary. “We are forced to launch the strike as our demands were not considered by the hospital management. Even when the management claims that minimum wages have been implemented, the nursing staff in the hospital get only `5,000 per month. They are not ready to give even proper salary slips to the nurses,” Jeeson said.Talks were held with the management five times but to no avail. “Thrice the talks were held in the presence of district labour officials. We gave them 45 days to consider our demands. But it seems they have an indifferent attitude,” Jeeson said.However, the hospital management renounced the allegations by the IRNA. “We are ready for talks. But we cannot go ahead with talks when they strike. Another round of talks is scheduled for Saturday, but the nurses are not ready to wait till then,” said Sister Jane Francis, administrator of SH Hospital. She further claimed that the management had implemented Minimum Wages Act from March 2010 onwards.Sister Jane Francis dismissed reports that the hospital was closed down in the wake of the strike.
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