Group Threatens To Sue Health Workers

A GROUP NAMED “Love Your Neighbour” has called on health workers and the Government to dialogue on issues affecting the former's salaries.

Intimating that it would institute legal action against the health workers when it became necessary, the group contended that now that the health workers had been assured of substantial increases in their salaries, the public would expect them to use regular dialogue instead of resorting to strikes, considering the overwhelming effect such strike-actions normally had on the populace.

Eric Osei-Annor, spokesperson for the group, expressing this at a press conference held in Accra yesterday, stated that the health sector had been experiencing frequent threats of strike and strike actions by its workers, which often resulted in irreparable damage, such as deaths in the society.

The spokesperson cited an instance where the health minister's mother passed away in similar circumstances in Kumasi about two years ago.

“Children who would have grown to be Rawlingses, Nkrumahs, Kufuors, and Annans, were lost daily; our mothers and fathers not excluded, with the losses having crippling effects on the labour force of the nation.”

According to him, even though the health sector was isolated from the Ghana Universal Salary Structure, Ghanaians continued to hear of attempts, exemplified by their working-to-rule method, which contradicts the normal shift system.

He disclosed that scientific research by Youth for Action Ghana (YAG) indicated that, from January17 to January 30, 2007, a large number of lives were lost, as a result of the negative system.

“We cannot go on like this; we need to remain each other's keeper as nobody knows who would turn helpless tomorrow.”

By Linda Tenyah