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Striking nurses threaten suicide

Politicians call general strike in support of wage rises
Striking nurses threaten suicide
Published: August 16, 2012 09:54 AM GMT
Updated: August 16, 2012 11:06 AM GMT

Three nurses are threatening to jump from a hospital terrace after being on strike for 115 days, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. An official did talk the nurses down on Wednesday, but after hospital management backtracked on an agreement the nurses went back up. They are part of a group of about 100 nurses who are currently defying heavy rains to protest outside the the Mar Baselios Memorial Hospital in Kothamangalam, in Kerala. “The situation is tense here,” said P. Rajeev, a member of parliament and Communist leader. On Wednesday night, local people pelted the hospital with stones and vandalized an ambulance. Political parties announced a dawn-to-dusk general strike in the area to show support for the nurses. Schools and businesses were closed today. The hospital pays nurses only 2,000 rupees (US$36) a month, even though the stipulated minimum wage is 9,000 rupees, Rajeev said. “The majority of the nurses are from poor families and had to take education loans for their studies," he added. A bank has threatened to auction the house of one of the nurses who is threatening to commit suicide. Hospital officials refused to comment on the situation. The Syrian Jacobite Church, one of the two factions of India’s Orthodox Church, manages the hospital, which is some 50 kilometers east of Kochi, Kerala’s commercial hub. Related reports Ousted Jacobite bishop blames ‘mafia’

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