On a sultry Tuesday morning (March 10, 2026), before life in the city came to a standstill, a few nurses at a super specialty hospital located on the banks of the vast Kochi backwaters in Kerala’s Ernakulam district arrived at the entrance of their workplace.
Instead of rushing to see their patients, as they normally did, the nurses, dressed in their usual attire, waited for others to join them. As the minutes passed, more nurses arrived and the crowd began to grow.
Someone brought a banner with the name of the United Nurses Association, a group of nurses from private hospitals in the state, printed on it in big bold letters. Some other people started sloganeering. Their voices echoed throughout the luxury hospital building, with some protesters even waving the organization’s white flag.
similar scenes keep happeningThousands of nurses in some other private hospitals in the state have also been protesting for the past few weeks demanding a basic monthly salary of ₹40,000. Other demands include better staffing levels and patient-carer ratios.
As the day progressed, the crowd of nurses outside the hospital increased significantly. The summer sun started setting with its full intensity. However, the scorching heat could not defeat the resolve of the nurses as the sloganeering continued with renewed vigour.
Standing amidst the crowd was Harsha P. Jacob, waving the loose fabric of her cotton kurta to get some air. She was there with more than a hundred nurses who were protesting. Nine months pregnant, she was due to start her maternity leave in a few days.
‘long overdue’
If she had not come to the protest, her friends would have understood. But this was one opposition she could not stay away from. So day after day, from morning to evening, she stood, raising her voice along with the rest of her colleagues, demanding a raise. “The pay revision has been pending for a long time. We are struggling to survive. The salary is very low and we have to run our family on this,” says Harsh.
are campaigning heavilyIn calling for a pay increase, protesters also said they are not shirking their responsibilities to the patients who have been left in their care.
Rahul Parakkaran, a male nurse at the hospital, says, “It’s not that we don’t care about the patients. It hurts us that we have to do this, when our patients are inside we stand here and don’t do our duty; they are like our family.”
These were lines that many other nurses later repeated in unison. The nurses say they were forced to go on an indefinite strike after their repeated appeals for wage revision fell on deaf ears for years.
“We have been forced to do this. Some of our colleagues are still taking care of the patients inside, ensuring that the care of the patients remains unaffected,” assured Rahul, who works as a team leader of nurses in the operating theater at the hospital.
As of Wednesday, 429 private hospitals across the state expressed their desire to revise the minimum wage to ₹32,700. | Photo Courtesy: H. Vibhu
As the protest entered its second day, the nurses decided to adopt some innovative protest methods that would increase their visibility and garner public support. Rahul told them that they would collect donations among themselves and make porridge, a symbolic gesture to show the hospital management that the community is struggling to survive in the current economic conditions.
The crowd of nurses listened attentively as Rahul, along with other UNA officials, explained the difficulties faced by their community. They raised slogans calling for a better tomorrow.
This act had an electrifying effect on the protesters. The growing crowd of agitators started moving towards the hospital. They shouted: “We want justice!”
As they raised slogans and marched towards the hospital, the security personnel immediately stopped them. When vehicles entering and exiting the hospital had difficulty moving smoothly, the protesters were allowed inside the gate, where they sat down and continued their protest.
Sheetu Antony, a native of Kottayam, has been working at the hospital for more than nine years.
“I came with my uniform,” Sheetu says, patting the bag on her shoulder. “We are ready to resume work once the hospital agrees to our terms,” she says.
struggle of freshers
“The minimum wage should be increased. We are here because no one cares about how much we are being paid. It is only after this protest that people are realizing how low our salaries actually are. I see how much the new joiners have to struggle; they are not remunerated well for the work they do. I am also here for them,” she says.
KC Sijo, a fresher who recently joined the hospital, interrupts and says how he has been put on probation for 1.5 years.
He further said, “It is quite difficult for newcomers. We are underpaid everywhere. My friends in other professions earn higher salaries. We chose this job because of our love for the profession. But at such low salaries, it is difficult to survive in this economy.”
According to the association, the salary has not been increased since 2019. The last pay revision was implemented in April 2018, after which the salary increased by approximately ₹20,000.
Jasmine Shah, national president of UNA, says, “Wage revision should be done every three years or at least every five years. We have been demanding the revision for a long time. We had to resort to strike as our demands were not being heeded.”
He further said, “The current salary in the private sector is inadequate to take into account the rising cost of living. It is not even at par with government hospitals. Nurses in a government hospital get around ₹60,000 per month for the same services that we provide in private hospitals.”
token strike
Before taking the step, the nurses had gone on a statewide symbolic strike on February 21. With their demands unheeded, the nurses went on strike on 4 March. During this strike, one-third of the nurses in private hospitals continued to provide their services.
The widespread agitation prompted the state government to issue a draft notification to revise the minimum wages for employees in the private health sector. It has proposed a revised salary for GNM/B.Sc. Staff Nurses ranging from ₹25,450 to ₹30,800. However, the association and the nurses are not satisfied and have decided to continue their strike.
UNA launches indefinite strike on Monday (March 9, 2026). The changed scenario after the government notification forced nurses to also revise their strategies. It was decided that the nurses who were earlier asked to stay back and perform their duties would join the protest.
Nevertheless, a portion of the nurses who were part of the association still showed up to hospitals to assist in critical care, even as protests intensified across the state.
“These nurses are providing their services so that the care of patients in critical emergency care is not disrupted,” says Rahul.
“We gave private hospitals time to transfer patients to other hospitals if needed,” says Shah.
Opinion of hospital owners
At the same time, hospital owners consider the strike illegal and their demands unacceptable.
Anwar M. Ali, general secretary of the Kerala Private Hospital Association, says, “The strike is illegal because the UNA did not give the mandatory 14-day notice before starting the protest. There is a minimum wage structure that has to be followed. You cannot demand a minimum wage of ₹40,000. How can small hospitals bear this increased financial burden? This may lead to closure of small hospitals.”
They argue that increased wages could ultimately make health care more expensive in the state.
He added, “If such high wages are paid, hospitals may have to pass the cost on to the public, making treatment more expensive and potentially disrupting the health care sector.”
As of Wednesday (March 11, 2026), 429 private hospitals have agreed with UNA to revise the minimum wage to Rs 32,700, points out Sha, while the association represents nurses in only 490 private hospitals in the state.
INTUC State President K. Chandrasekaran promised his supportFor nurses, employees in the private educational and health sectors were exploited without thought.
No standards apply to medical treatment in private hospitals, and many of them exploit patients. However, most of these hospitals pay only low salaries to nurses,He says.
CITU national vice president and trade union leader K. Chandran Pillai says private hospitals are required to comply with the minimum wages notified by the government.
The demands of the striking nurses include a basic monthly salary of ₹40,000, improvement in staffing levels and patient-carer ratio. | Photo Courtesy: H. Vibhu
“In institutions where minimum wages are not being implemented, unions can intervene and put pressure on the management to implement wage revisions,” he says.
fear of the future
Even when striking at work, protesters also fear that they will be harassed if they resume work.
“This is a fear in the minds of most nurses. But we are here on the protest path because we cannot survive on the low salaries. Now it is time that we are compensated properly,” says Anita Mathayi, a nurse for more than two decades.
“Don’t call us angels, treat us like humans,” protesters demanded as the strike entered another grueling day.
