Health Workers Set to Begin Indefinite Strike Saturday
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations have announced an indefinite nationwide strike starting Saturday, November 15, 2025.
The unions cited the Federal Government’s continued failure to implement the revised Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) and address long-standing welfare and systemic issues affecting health workers as the reason for the action.
The announcement was made in a statement signed by JOHESU National Chairman, Comrade Kabiru Ado Minjibir, and shared with PUNCH on Friday.
The strike by JOHESU-affiliated unions comes amid an ongoing indefinite strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over unpaid hazard allowance arrears, poor working conditions, and stalled welfare reforms.
The overlapping industrial actions are expected to disrupt services in federal teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and many state-owned health facilities.
JOHESU represents key unions, including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
“The crux of the matter in the present circumstance is the long delay in the implementation of the High-Level Body (HLB) Committee’s report on the adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure since its submission to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022,” the statement read.
“Nothing has been done by successive administrations to redress this infraction. Despite the well-advertised assurances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, when a two-man delegation of JOHESU visited him on June 5, 2023, to advance the FG’s resolve to get JOHESU to suspend its strike, this demand remains unattended to.
“Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from the Federal Government on some of these issues despite assurances during subsequent meetings with relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
“There is no doubt that we have exhibited maturity, selflessness, and patriotism even in the face of extreme provocations and long delays by the government, and we think that our maturity and patriotism have been taken for granted.
“JOHESU will not accept victimisation of its members by the government or any employer in public health institutions across the country on account of this strike action, which is a dispute of right. We shall therefore keep all our channels of communication open during this period of the indefinite strike action,” the statement concluded.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
