The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has distanced itself from the Kenyatta National Hospital workers strike over that has since been suspended by the court.
In a statement on Wednesday, SRC claims that it did job evaluation and determined the worth of jobs at the county’s largest referral hospital in 2017.
The commission also attributed the industrial action to the demands for pay increase outside the commission’s advice adding that staff members from the facility have already benefited from salary increases for the remuneration review cycle 2017/18 to 2020/21.
“The Commission advised KNH on the resultant job evaluation-based salary structure, which KNH has been implementing since 2017, with the last phase implemented with effect from 1 July 2020,” SRC said.
It however promised to re-evaluate jobs at KNH in order to address any emerging issues and issue advise upon completion of the exercise.
SRC’s statement comes as KMPDU secretary general Chibanzi Mwachonda called off the strike on Wednesday in respect of the order but vowed to resume if their issues are not addressed.
The commission also accused KNH management has been in discussion with the relevant trade unions for additional pay, over and above what it [SRC] had advised.
Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary general Seth Panyako on Wednesday said the health workers downed tools because the SRC behaved “like it is the only institutional body in the country”.
According to him, the problem is that the SRC does not want Kenyatta Hospital to implement the salary review.
KNH has insisted that only SRC can resolve their salary dispute.
