Pharmacists suspend 2-months old strike

Members of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) have also called off their two-month-old strike.

The Pharmacists who work in public hospitals across the country went on a strike in April over their market premium on the Single Spine Salary Structure.

The market premium of pharmacists has been the problem between the GHOSPA and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for over past 18 months.

The Secretary of GHOSPA, Franklin Acheampong who confirmed this, said the decision was taken at a national delegates meeting in Accra.

According to him “members considered that, they have become aware of the various pleadings that have been made by the general public and their friends and so, taking into consideration the court proceeding going on in which the National Labour Commission seeks to enforce its ruling, the option for them now is to suspend their strike and resume work. The strike is almost three months now. We have had reports from various hospitals that the internally generated funds, obtained by the sale of drugs have fallen and it has affected a lot of institutions.”

He also added “These issues were all known before members embarked on strike; we have had informal discussions with well-meaning Ghanaians and we know because we had a ruling there will be the need for us to wait for the final verdict.”

Mr. Franklin Acheampong also said they were hopeful the challenges with their migration onto the single spine salary structure will be solved.