Medical specialists read riot act to Health Minister

The Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) yesterday said that they were dismayed by the revision of salaries and various allowances in respect of various groups in the health sector, in violation of procedures. “This will only result in further unrest among various categories of healthcare workers,: President-AMS, Dr. LakKumar Fernando said in a letter to Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella.

“We strongly believe that any revision and corrections of anomalies in the salary structure of the government sector, including the health sector, should be done by the authorities specifically established for the task such as the National Pay Commission and Public services Commission in consultation with each other having paid due consideration for qualifications without disrupting the hierarchical structure,” he said.

Given below are excerpts of the letter: “We strongly feel that such revisions and changes should certainly not be done through ad hoc committees or hasty cabinet decisions to accommodate certain lobby groups. If accepted and legitimate pathways are not adopted, not only the health sector but also the rest of the government sector will be crippled by an unimaginable wave of protests and trade union actions disrupting the entire public service.

“In spite of our membership having many grievances with regards to our current salary structure, namely unfairly paid DAT allowance and inequalities in our salary compared to University Academics and the Judiciary, we have never proposed any irregular mechanisms to correct such anomalies. Instead, we have always followed the approved pathways like working through the National pay Commission.

Hence, if the authorities try to bypass the established institutions and legitimate pathways, we will not hesitate to take the strongest possible trade union action in line with the other health sector unions who believe in settling the salary disputes only through such legitimate pathways.”