The High Court on Thursday asked the State government to inform the court whether it has issued any notification declaring hospital services as public utility service under the Industrial Dispute Act. The court put the query when a public interest writ petition seeking to prohibit the strike by nurses on February 15 came up for hearing. The provisions of the ID Act require that no person employed in public utility services should go on strike without giving the employer a six-week strike notice. The court issued notice to the United Nurses’ Association (UNA).
The petition was filed by the Forum for Social Justice from Thiruvananthapuram. It said the strike announced by the UNA would affect the public directly because no alternative arrangements had been made for the inpatient units, intensive care units, and casualty of hospitals in the State. The organisation alleged that the government had not done anything to prevent the strike though it had the power under Section 3(1) of the Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Act , 1994, to prohibit strikes in any essential services.
