Doctors told strikes may be illegal

HEALTH Secretary Pascoe Kase has warned the National Doctors Association that strikes could be a breach of the Public Services (Management) Act, which is punishable by summary dismissal.
In a letter to the association, Kase said its role was to protect the rights of the constituent health workers to better them to serve the people as providers of quality health services.
NDA and several other unions representing workers in the health sector have threatened to launch a protest strike to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
Kase said the proposed strike was not only a breach of ethics but also of laws and awards governing the employment conditions of health workers.
“The applicable law is found in the Public Services (Management) Act 2014, General Order 21 and the various health sector industrial awards made under PNG laws,” Kase said in the letter.
“The secretary of personnel management has a duty to ensure that during an industrial dispute, officers are directed to return to normal working and to cease any industrial action which is in breach of the Act.”