The Fiji Nursing Association says that despite months of negotiations, the mediation between the association and the Ministry of Health has come to an end.

President Alisi Vudiniabola says they have exhausted all avenues while following the processes of mediation and mitigation with their employer.

She says they are now awaiting the Ministry of Labour to acknowledge the result of their secret ballot taken in November last year.

The FNA President adds that the nurses are not pleased with the discussions held with the Ministry of Health.

Discussions so far regarding our issues: we have stopped those anomalies and the continuing problems with our data, and how the nurses salaries that are supposed to be rectified have not really progressed. So we’ve gone back to Labour at this time, and we have asked the Registrar of Trade Union to activate our results from our secret ballot that we submitted to his office so many months ago.

Vudiniabola says while civil servants will receive an increment in the new financial year, their grievances are separate.

We have long-standing pay and salary issues that are supposed to be corrected by the Ministry of Health. We did not ask for a pay rise; we asked for salary alignment, for the nurses’ salaries to be aligned in their correct bands and in their correct steps, and they needed to be paid retention allowance and other allowances that were promised to be paid.

However, Health Minister Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu maintains that discussions remain open.

According to the update I have gotten from the Minister for Labour, the two Permanent Secretaries are dialoging with the FNA to see how we can resolve this issue. The talks are continuous, and we are pretty sure there will be a favorable outcome.

The Fiji Nursing Association remains adamant about going on strike, as, according to the president, more than 88 percent of their members have agreed to this.