Kenyan doctors have been on strike, urging for the full implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
However, the CBA in question has been disputed by the courts as unregistered. It nonetheless has three contentious issues that have been difficult to crack; salary, training and whether doctors should have their own grading system separate from the civil service’s.
Although the doctors are said to have agreed with the proposed entry point at Job group M, they have raised issues with the newly proposed salary bands by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
The SRC have proposed that the doctors be in band C and D. However, doctors want to be placed at band D and E, which have higher salaries.
They are yet to agree on whether to have a separate grading system from civil servants. The issue of training entails doctors pursuing their postgraduate studies to specialise in a specific field of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy and they manage patients without any additional pay.
The practice worldwide is to compensate the specialists for the services they offer. This was part of an agreement in previous strikes to address this matter. The Government has, however, maintained that training is not its function but that of the training institutions.
