Nurses at Lakeshore Hospital continued to strike work for the second day as talks between the management and the nurses' representatives failed.
The talks were held in the presence of the Regional Labour Commissioner. The management stuck to its stance of not reinstating the dismissed “trainee” nurses, while the nurses' representatives said that all nurses at Lakeshore are appointed as staff and not trainees. The nurses had met Minister for Labour Shibu Baby John earlier who urged them to take part in the meeting with the management.
Philip Augustine, Managing Director of Lakeshore Hospital, said that the management cannot absorb the trainees, as they were selected after clearly mentioning the training period.
He said that most of them were taken as trainees based on recommendations made by various persons. These nurses were not employees and had said that they do not need any salary, he said.
Dr. Augustine said that the management had given benefits equivalent to the minimum wages to nearly 18 trainees by reimbursing their travel expenses.
He said that the hospital had appointed trainees right from 2003 onwards in various other departments as well. “We cannot accept the demand for absorbing the trainees,” he said.
“The Labour Minister has called for talks on Thursday. We will attend and make our stance clear”, he said. The nurses were trying to defame the hospital, he said.
The Panangad Police have registered a case against the striking nurses of Lakeshore hospital based on an order passed by the High Court last month asking them to provide protection to the hospital.
