The Kerala Private Hospitals’ Association (KPHA) has termed the strike by nurses led by the United Nurses’ Association (UNA) as illegal and sought the government’s intervention to end the stir.

The association argued that the nurses’ demand for a basic wage of ₹40,000 was financially unsustainable. It had asked the government to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to end the strike and restore essential hospital services.

“The strike is unjust because what started as a one-day protest bypassed the 14-day notice period and turned into an indefinite agitation without proper intimation,” the organisation said in a communication.

It further said that the basic wage of ₹40,000 had yet to be approved as it did not comply with the minimum wage regulations. “Minimum wages are determined by the government through a formal evaluation process as opposed to informal negotiations. As of now, the revision of minimum wages has been initiated,” it said.

The current salaries in the nursing sector are already well above the previous minimums, the organisation said. If the wage increase was to be approved, all hospitals would be required to raise the cost of treatment which would make private health care unaffordable to the common people, it said.

At the same time, UNA leader Jasmine Shah said the statements were made to mislead the public. “The strike is going on in just over 20 hospitals, mostly corporate hospitals and private medical colleges. which refused to increase wages. Even here we are holding discussions. Further, no critical services are affected as minimum staff has been deployed,” said Mr. Shah.

He added that they had not demanded a basic salary of ₹40,000 from private hospitals but rather asked for a gross salary of around ₹32,700. “We have asked only the government for the basic salary and have asked the hospital managements to provide an increment in the salaries of the staff in proportion to the number of hospital beds,” he added.