The state government in Northern Bahr al Ghazal has admitted to having arrested and then released strike leaders who were demanding better pay from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which supports the government hospital in the state capital Aweil.

The workers went on strike last Thursday demanding to be paid in dollars rather than local pounds, which are increasingly dropping in value. Reportely they also requested pay increases and limitation on working hours.

The international organization has employed 300 staff to work alongside government employees at Aweil State Hospital, according to the health minister.

Speaking on Monday, the state's Minister of Health Tong Deng Anei confirmed the MSF health workers went on strike, criticizing them for not having followed right procedures in doing so. He said he spoke to the striking workers and they have since gone back to work.

“I talked to them and I told them this is not the right way of doing things. When you want to strike, strike is the right of the staff to do that. But there are procedures of doing it: you have to give one week notice of doing it to the management so they can look into it... but they did not even give any notice.”

“They just went they gave letters at night to the MSF Coordinator and also to the director of the hospital which was at 8:00 p.m. at night, and that is not the right procedures. I told them to go back to work and MSF together with MoH will look into it and have another meeting with them on the coming Friday so that we see what needs to be done,” said Tong.

He also commented on the strikers' demand to be paid in US dollars. “The issue of the dollars is a little bit tricky, because they have signed the contract in pounds and if they want to change that it is something they need to negotiate with MSF but it is not something that needs to be done with violence. That is not acceptable.”

The health minister further confirmed the arrest of four people in connection with the strike. “There were people who were actually on strike and they went and they stand on the gate and they chased away those staff who were willing to come and work. They were just being chased away by force, and that is not a strike... and those people we arrested them. We arrest four of them immediately and after that they apologized... so we released them the same day.”

The minister said the staffs should appreciate MSF for employing so many people, pointing that an MSF nurse, for example, was paid more than a government-employed nurse.  

Photo: Pregnant women in line at Aweil hospital