They had gathered outside the institute to protest a suspension order against three staff members, who were being punished for forming a union.
193 members of the nursing staff of UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre at Civil Hospital were detained by the Shahibaug police on Tuesday, for nearly nine hours.
They had gathered outside the institute to protest a suspension order against three staff members, who were being punished for forming a union.
On August 5, the institute's nursing staff had formed a union called 'UN Mehta Heart Institute Association'. However, according to sources, the institute didn't approve of the formation of the union, and suspended three of its key players including the president, vice-president and a working committee member.
On Tuesday at around 11.20 am, as the agitated employees gathered to protest, they were immediately picked by the police and brought to the police station where they were held till 7 in the evening.
"This is a terribly wrong move. All we want is to run the union, because we lack many amenities as well as other issues like maternity leave, salary raise etc that should be taken care of by the institute. But the authorities don't heed our demands," said Hiten Patel, one of the suspended members, and the president of the union.
According to the Shahibaug police, the staff was detained on the grounds that they didn't have the permission to protest en masse.
The nursing staff of the institute numbers 250, of which 225 are reportedly with the union. The union was formed on August 5 and the very next day, three key members were suspended. On Monday, these employees went on five-day strike, demanding withdrawal of the decision allowing the union to function.
Medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr VC Doshi, could not be contacted for comment. However, sources said that some students from a nursing school in Gandhinagar had been brought in to compensate for the absence of staff.
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