Nurses at government hospitals have commenced an island-wide strike from today as the midwife training issue remains unsolved, the Government Nursing Officers’ Association (GNOA) said.
Discussion held between Health Ministry officials and the trade union to find a solution to the midwifery training dispute last evening had ended in failure as both parties were unable to reach an agreement.
Nurses of Kurunegala, Castel, Colombo and Ratnapura hospitals had engaged in a strike from yesterday over the issue before a decision was taken to launch an island-wide strike from today.
GNOA Chairman Saman Ratnapriya said that they had decided to resort to a country-wide strike due to the failure of the talks between the government and the nurses’ trade unions.
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) and Government Midwifery Service Association had opposed a decision to provide midwifery training to nurses, resulting in the strike action.
