By Kefiloe Kajane
The Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) has released a statement attempting to justify the expulsion of 343 nurses who were fired last week.
The hospital says, following a long-standing dispute relating to salary disparities between the nursing staff employed by the government of Lesotho and those employed by Tšepong, a number of nursing staff of Tšepong went on strike.
It said the dispute began in 2013 when government increased the salaries of civil service nurses by an average of 50 percent.
“Regrettably, the same salary increases could not be offered by Tšepong to nursing staff employed at QMMH and its filter (primary care) clinics. Since then Tšepong management has been most concerned about the resultant unfair salary disparities and the unaffordability of a similar increase given the current funding model and agreement entered into with the government of Lesotho.
“Tšepong management and the board have since engaged the government in an effort to renegotiate the funding model and agreement to accommodate the 50 percent wage increases. Unfortunately, the negotiations are still ongoing, and the parties are yet to reach an agreement,” the statement said.
It further stated that the staff at Tšepong initially went on strike in 2014 demanding a speedy resolution to these unfair salary disparities.
