CHENNAI: Just as the dust had begun to settle after the workers stir at VHS, nurses at the Vijaya Group of Hospitals, one of the oldest and most reputed health care groups in the city, have gone on an indefinite strike. Like most of the other nurses’ stirs, the major demand behind the stoppage of work is better wages. “The nurses are paid a meagre sum of Rs 6,500 and this is definitely not enough for subsistence,” said a representative of the Nurses Union.One of the immediate causes for the stir that began on Monday was the call for a suspension order issued to the Nurses Union’s general secretary, Baby Sabeena, to be revoked. Other major demands are for hostel allowance to be slashed in half, a basic salary of Rs 15000 per month with a 15 per cent annual increment and better night allowances. The demand for better wages and perks has been cropping up from nurses in most private hospitals after the successful deals brokered by their counterparts in MMM, Apollo, Billroth and Fortis Malar Hospitals earlier this year.Having stopped work from 8 am, over 400 nursing staff sat near the reception of the lush Vijaya Health Centre at Vadapalani, till negotiations were initiated by the management. Talks began at the group’s corporate office but are yet to be conclusive. “They said that they were willing to negotiate with us, but that it would have to wait till the hospital’s trustees return from out of town,” said Dr G R Ravindranath of the TN Medical Workers Association.When contacted, sources at the hospital said that though they were managing to keep things moving inside, all cardiac surgery had been rescheduled and only major surgery was being undertaken. They said that if the strike continued the hospital would have to begin emptying wards.
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