Thrissur: Nurses belonging to private hospitals in Kerala's Thrissur district began a 72-hour long strike on Tuesday to protest against their low wages.
Six prominent hospitals, which increased wages by 50 per cent, were exempted from the strike. The strike will be held in hospitals that have not raised wages. Nurses at Amala, Jubilee Mission, West Fort, Daya, Sun and Malankara Mission hospitals called off the strike.
The nurses will boycott all services including ICU (intensive care unit) duty for 72 hours from Tuesday, United Nurses Association (UNA) said. Nurses will march to the Collectorate today.
As major hospitals increased their wages, the UNA's efforts seems to have borne fruit even before the strike commenced.
The key demands raised by the association include raising of daily wages to Rs 1,500 and 50 per cent interim relief. Other demands include scrapping of contract laws, strict enforcement of labour laws, inspection of all private hospitals, and implementation of latest pay commission recommendations.
The strike was initiated after negotiations held with the Labour Office to resolve the issue.
