Ebola hospital workers walk out over pay

Local workers have gone on strike in an overcrowded Ebola ward at a major district hospital in Sierra Leone’s disease-stricken east over claims the government is failing to pay them. Up to 80 workers crowded the entrance compound to the hospital on Friday, deserting their posts and bringing operations at the Ebola treatment ward to a standstill. The workers were peaceful but frustrated. The action comes after several other strikes at the same hospital by staff protesting poor working conditions, infection rates among colleagues and rates of pay that they say do not make up for the risks they take.

I started working here one month ago and we have been paid nothing for the last two weeks. We have stopped everybody from working until we receive our risk incentive.

Umaru, a hygienist at Kenema District Hospital

The hospital is a critical facility catering to a population of several hundred thousand and began admitting the first Ebola cases in Sierra Leone because it was thought to be the only place with appropriate equipment. The Ebola facility was set up early this summer on the same site as ordinary medical operations but since the outbreak began most other non-Ebola wards stand deserted and many workers have fled. Ebola support staff are supposed to be paid 500,000SLL ($110) per week but have been working for free in Kenema for the past two weeks. The government, UN and WHO have said they will negotiate with the workers on Monday.

Africa ebola