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NAIROBI, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of doctors' union officials amid a medics strike over pay rise that has lasted for almost 40 days.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa of the Employment and Labour Relations Court directed a Nairobi police station to enforce the arrest warrants.
Wasilwa said the union officials had not appeared in court after being summoned, which she said were considerable grounds for contempt.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) officials were due to appear in court Tuesday for defying a court order barring them from going on strike.
The government last week offered to increase the salary for the lowest paid doctors by over 550 U.S. dollars from 1,400 dollars per month, an offer that was rejected by the doctors.
The doctors are demanding a 300-percent salary increase in line with a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2013.
They say the lowest-paid doctor should earn 3,450 dollars per month while the highest 9,450 dollars.
The government has threatened to dismiss doctors who fail to resume duties by Wednesday.
However, the striking doctors have dared the governments to make good their threat to sack them on Wednesday, vowing to resume work only after the implementation of the collective bargaining agreement .
KMPDU Secretary General Ouma Oluga, who were among those summoned by court, termed the issuance of the warrant intimidation, calling all members to stay put.
The standoff between the doctors in the public hospitals and the government has pushed thousands of low-income patients to flock ill-equipped clinics as they can not afford high-cost private facilities. Enditem
