The Ghana Registered Nurse and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has maintained that it will not call off its ongoing strike action until their concerns have been fully addressed.
The association says the government has not demonstrated goodwill in addressing their concerns; hence, they have no other option than to remain on strike.
A Deputy National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Philimon Gyapong, speaking in an interview on Nyankonton Mu Nsem, indicated that there is room for renegotiation because what was required was just implementation of agreed matters.
He stated that they agreed on improved conditions of service in May 2024; however, the government has still not implemented them, hence their decision to embark on the strike.
He insisted that nurses and midwives across the country will wear red bands from 2nd to 3rd June, and from 4th to 8th June, they will withdraw their OPD service as well as embark on a strike on 9th June, 2025, until the government addresses their problems.
“The government engaged us on Friday and appealed to us to call off our strike action. However, he could not provide any justifiable reasons why we should not embark on a strike. Our members have also, by a majority decision, asked us to embark on the strike and not call it off. The other associations that have decided to call off the strike are in the minority and do not have the bargaining power. There are over 128,000 nurses in Ghana, with over 96,000 being members of GRNMA. The other groups are limited in numbers and cannot decide on the way forward for us.
We have one big association, which is the GRNMA, and so we have the bargaining power and represent the interests of nurses in Ghana. We cannot allow the minority group to determine what we want. We have already negotiated the conditions of service, so there is no room for renegotiation. Implementing them will have no negative impact on our finances. The only news we want to hear about is that the finance minister has approved the gathering agreement.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
