The Angolan government has threatened striking doctors in the country to forget their salaries for the duration the strike will last, in a new ‘no work, no pay’ policy.
The announcement which was made on Thursday, approved the suspension of salaries of doctors who have been on strike for two weeks to demand for improved conditions of service.
Doctors in Angola who represent a vast majority of the workforce in the country, have been on strike for the past 12 days, demanding better working conditions and refusing all entreaties to go back to work.
Most of the Southern African country’s approximately 5,600 doctors joined the movement last week for the second time in four months.
The doctors’ union had called for the nationwide strike after 20 children died in a single day at a pediatric hospital in the capital, Luanda, due to a shortage of medicines and medical equipment.
The doctors had also accused the government of neglecting hospitals in the oil rich country, saying medical institutions lacked basic material, medicines and needed equipment, while the government was building new establishments without providing staff.
However, the government has told the striking doctors to forget their salaries for as long as the strike lasts.
“We will not pay the salaries of the strikers,” Labor Minister Teresa Dias said a press conference.