Nurses strike: Achuthanandan visit turns the tables

The arrival of Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on Thursday marked the end of the 114 days-long struggle of the nurses of Mar Baselios Medical Mission Hospital here, who had lost all hopes of success of their strike.

Even the six-hour-long talk with the Labour Commissioner failed to yield any result. But with the arrival of VS, the scene changed and the strike marked its end and the three major demands raised by the nurses have been met.

According to Indian Nurses’ Association (INA) state joint-secretary Jomon John, in the first session of talks which began by 3pm on Thursday, the demands raised by the INA were rejected by the management. In the second session, the mediation committee demanded a compromise and wanted the INA to call off the strike saying that a decision regarding their demands will be taken at a meeting to be convened in Thiruvananthapuram next week.

However, the twist in management’s stand came with the arrival of Achuthanandan at the Rest House where the talks were held by 9 pm. He firmly demanded that the management should withdraw from it’s stand and approve the basic demands put forth by the representatives of the INA.

Within a few minutes the management reversed its earlier decision and agreed to all the demands raised by the INA. In the end, Achuthanandan reached the hospital and announced that the strike has been called off.