NLC Backs JOHESU’s Strike, Accuses FG of Breaching CONHESS Agreement

By Chinedu Echianu

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared full support for the indefinite strike embarked upon by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), following the Federal Government’s alleged failure to implement a key agreement on improved remuneration for health workers.

In a statement signed by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the Congress said JOHESU’s decision—taken at its National Executive Committee meeting on November 14, 2025—was justified given the government’s refusal to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with health unions on October 29, 2024.

A major demand in dispute is the implementation of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), which covers several categories of health professionals. Ajaero said the government has continued to “drag its feet” on the matter, turning what should have been a straightforward collective bargaining process into one of the country’s most prolonged labour crises.

He noted that while the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), mainly for medical doctors, has been fully implemented since January 2014, CONHESS has suffered years of delay. Attempts to resolve the issue date back to a 2017 MoU between JOHESU and the Federal Ministry of Health, the violation of which triggered a strike in May 2018. Although the then Minister of Health pledged to secure presidential approval for adjusted CONHESS within five weeks, the promise remains unfulfilled seven years later.

The NLC also accused the Federal Government of making excuses, including initially blaming delays on the non-constitution of the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS). Even after the committee was eventually set up, Ajaero said no meaningful steps were taken to implement the agreement, further stretching the patience of health workers.

Reacting to a recent memo from the Coordinating Minister of Health to the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, the Congress said the communication only confirmed the unions’ fears about the government’s lack of sincerity. Ajaero particularly faulted the minister’s position that CONHESS implementation must be subject to relativity and parity, describing it as an attempt to evade a clear and binding agreement.

The NLC warned that unless the Federal Government urgently addresses CONHESS and other outstanding issues affecting health workers, it would mobilise all Nigerian workers in solidarity with JOHESU. Ajaero stressed that “injury to one is injury to all.”