Nurses at Apollo and Fortis Malar Hospital continued their strike for the fourth day on Monday. Hundreds of nurses did not report to work at the Greams Road Apollo Hospital. Instead, they gathered in the nearby ground inside police quarters, demanding a hike in their salary and better work benefits.
Significant among their demands are a minimum salary of Rs. 17,000 for a fresh entrant; providing two consecutive days off after night shift; improvement in the quality of food provided in staff canteen; purified water to the staff near the department; separate hostel for male nurses and improvement of hostel facilities for female nurses. They also want job descriptions made and followed according to Joint Commission International Association standards.
On Monday evening, the female nurses were denied entry into their hostel near the hospital. It was only after the police intervened that the hostel gates were opened to let in the nurses.
The striking nurses were not allowed to use the ATM machines inside the hospital premises. At the women's hostel in Teynampet, personnel from the hospital's Human Resources department demanded that the nurses hand over their identity card and uniforms. They were told that their termination orders were being issued.
Meanwhile, nurses in Madras Medical Mission have almost finalised an agreement with the hospital management. The nurses in Fortis Malar said as they had approached the District Labour Officer with their grievances, they had not returned to work. According to a statement issued by Apollo Hospitals, the hospital had augmented recruitment and would continue its services to patients. “A central leadership team is continuously monitoring the situation and evaluating patient care status 24x7. A team from the Human Resources department is working with the Labour Commissioner for an early conciliation towards recommencement of all medical services at the earliest,” the statement read. The Hospital has also stated that as the matter was before the Labour commissioner, the management would abide by the suggestions provided by him.
this is a just strike and could have been avoided if they discussed with an open mind.These hospitals charge heavily on patients and can easily pay.Medical tourism is the big word in health care for these high end hospitals.The tactics used by the managements to disrupt these innocent girls were below standard.
i myself as a nurse feel that what the nurses at appollo hospital are doing now,,,,,,
i request all you people to just think for a minute ...the cost of living which we are facing now and the price hike compare it to the nurses salary.........how much difficulty we are facing to meet the hiking rates.....
nurses are also family people and not bachelors or stvinsters to lead with such a meagre salary......
not mentioning the hospital name i am from,i am also staying in the staffs quartes,but what salary i am getting ,i am exactly paying half for the quarters fees......this not a joke,but the truth .....
this the cry and plea of all the nurses,
support this cause so that the standard of the profession be maintained,,,,,,,
Its good that at least now on wards the nurses will have decent life and salary, hats off to all those nurses who were dared to change their not so good fate. its time for Apollo to wake up and respect the nurses enough of their exploitation. i am a nurse i worked for Apollo and its the worst experience i had there, bond system, double duty, less salary,continuous night shift, endless abuses from both HR and senior officials.. i feel bad i paid 50000 to get my certificates back, may their souls do not rest in peace
There is no doubt that nurses has been exploited in India for a long term. But the fact is in India most of the employees have been exploited for years. Demanding 17,000 Rs as a basic salary on top of the renumerations is going to be difficult for the majority of the hospitals. When doctors who spend atleast one crore to get educated is paid not more than 10,000 at the entry level in corporate hospitals, I am wondering whether it is possible to pay such a huge amount for the nursing professionals who tecnically hold only diplomas. There will be 10 times more people waiting to join the Apollo for a current salary,the management will only witchhunt in the future. When there are so many professionls with a qualified degree are paid only 5,000 Rs. and even teachers are paid 3000 to 4000 Rs in many part of Tamilnadu,we have to sit and solve the problem for all the people in India not just for the striking nurses from corporate hospitals.
I fully agree with the comments of Mr. Lalu and Capt. Vijayaraghavan. K.
The hospitals are minting money. But it is very disappointing that the
income is taken by the management but it is not shared with others.
Government and Professional Nursing bodies should intervene in this
serious issue and help the Nurses to get their demand and lead a
dignified life.
The demands are reasonable. The management can't just ignore them & issue termination orders at their whims & fancies. Just because the investors need to upgrade their car from Audi to Aston Martin, they cannot deprive the staff of their basic rights & livelihood.
Even being a Computer Engineer, I fully agree to the demands of Nurses. You guys are paying laks of money for getting certified. In return, you are currently receiving salaries which are par with Sweepers and Cab drivers. This is not the case only in TN or Kerala, but in the entire South India. If you go abroad, yours is one of the top paid jobs. To avoid Brain drain, it is high time that the Govt. of India should take bold steps to standardize the remuneration for Nurses in India!
This is not at all a good news for the patients who are in pain, as well as for the Hospital Management, definately this strike is not appreciable but than the nurses are also human beings they also have every right to share their feelings and demands but not at the cost of human life, because we have taken oath to save human life & chosen this field & we are fortunate to get this opportunity to serve mankind. It could have been better if the things were sorted out inhouse amicably, now also it is not late if immediate action is taken a decision could be taken where both management as well as staff could come to a solution and get back to their duties of serving those who are in pains. Patient comes to us with lot of expectations we should honour & keep their expectations. I hope that both staff & management will understands this and reach to a solution at the earliest.
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