Striking Zimbabwe government junior doctors remained on strike on Monday despite a Labor Court ruling issued on Friday giving them 48 hours to return to work.
The doctors went on strike on Sept. 3 demanding better working conditions and improved salaries.
Their direct employer, the Health Service Board, took the matter to the Labor Court which on Friday determined that the strike was illegal and that the doctors should return to work.
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association said Sunday that it had “noted with great dismay” the Labor Court ruling.
“While doctors would want nothing more than to return to work in service of their patients, they continue to be incapacitated and lack the resources to allow them to comply with the Labor Court judgment. An appeal will be lodged with the Supreme Court,” the association said.
A source at the country’s largest medical referral center, the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, told Xinhua on Monday that the doctors had not reported for duty.
“They are saying that the court order does not capacitate them (to perform their duties) and have, therefore, appealed against the ruling at the Supreme Court,” the source said.
