The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) has announced that its members will be initiating a series of 24-hour strikes at the provincial level starting tomorrow, November 2nd.
During a press briefing held today, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge shared the details of the planned strikes.
The strikes will commence at 8 a.m. and continue until 8 a.m. the following day. However, it has been assured that essential services at maternity, cancer, children's, nephrology hospitals, as well as tri-forces hospitals, will not be affected by this trade union action. The first token strike will be carried out by medical officers in all state hospitals in the Uva Province tomorrow. Following that, medical officers in the Northern, North Western, and Sabaragamuwa provinces are planning to stage token strikes on November 3rd, 6th, and 7th, respectively.
On November 8th, token strikes are expected at hospitals in the Central and Eastern provinces. Medical officers in the Southern and North Central provinces will join the series of token strikes on November 9th, followed by medical officers in the Western Province on November 10th. The GMOA has expressed that the authorities, who have disregarded the issues raised by the association, should take responsibility for any inconvenience faced by patients due to these token strikes.
In addition to the token strikes, protests are also planned to be staged within each province on the designated dates. The GMOA has stated that if their issues continue to be disregarded, they will resort to an island-wide continuous strike.
