Liberia: Heath Workers Reject U.S.$50 Pay Rise

The Assembly of Liberian Health Professionals terms the Government of Liberia’s US$50 top-ups for health workers across the country provocative and a complete breach of the Health Sector Pay Grade and Salary Reclassification Policy while threatening a nationwide strike beginning December 10, 2024.

The Assembly of Liberian Health Professionals includes Pharmaceutical Association of Liberia, the Liberia Nurse Association, the Liberia National Physician Assistance Association, the Liberia Midwives Association, Liberia Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the Liberian Society of Medical Imaging Technologies, Liberia Association of Operating Room Technicians, Liberia Association of Environmental Professionals, Liberia Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists, and Liberia Medical and Dental Association.

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine K. Ngafuan, following the recent submission of the Draft 2025 National Budget to the Legislature, said that within the current budget, nurses, midwives, and physician assistants will receive US$50 top-ups per month, while other health workers will receive US$25-40 based on their grades.

However, responding to the government’s pronouncement in a news conference, the chairperson of the group and President of the Liberia National Physician Assistance Association, Theophilus Tamba Fayiah, says it’s very saddening that the government would ignore the Health Sector Pay Grade and Salary Reclassification Policy and institute another policy to top up the salaries of health workers.

He discloses that the Policy was originally scheduled to commence in the 2024 National Budget, but because of a delay in implementation, they urged the government to include it in the 2025 National Budget to ensure its timely execution.

“In the absence of the Reclassification Policy, we see the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance US$50 top-up as a provocation. This is a provocation to address equity and salary disparities in the health sector. People are already saying that we are doing the same work but not earning the same money, and then the government does this. The government signed onto this document, so ignoring it and bringing flat-rate is evil”, Mr. Fayiah laments.

According to him, they worked with the consultant recently provided by the government and validated the policy, which the government signed to uphold.

He explains that some of the issues that were addressed at the validation process include salary disparities. The current pay structure creates inequalities among healthcare workers of various professional categories despite the shared goal of delivering quality service.

He continues that following the adjustment, they respectfully requested that the government sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the various institutions for the implementation of the policy, which the government launched and adopted.

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“If no concrete action is taken within the timeline, we, the health workers, will commence a nationwide strike. This collective action will cease all services until the government is committed to addressing our demand. We strongly urge you to take this matter seriously and engage with us to avert a disruption of healthcare services nationwide. We remain committed to advancing the health sector and the health and the welfare of healthcare workers, and we hope that the government shares this commitment”, Mr. Fayiah says. Editing by Jonathan Browne

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