Labour Commission Gives Gov't, Nurses Up To October 28 To Resolve Impasse

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has given the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) up to October 28 to renegotiate and develop a document which will favour both parties.

Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye revealed this on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

“We are happy that they called off the strike and are ready to come to the negotiation table. The Labour Commission has given us up to October 28, 2020, about a month from now to make sure that we get a document that will be acceptable for all of us.”

He further added that the Ministry intends to make broader considerations before making any commitments.

“There are conditions of service that have expiry dates. It came to a time we had to do renegotiations on some of them. Some of the allowances are already being taken care of. We are looking at new proposals as well. The government does not want to accept a proposal only to come out and prove difficult. We are considering its sustainability. If you are a prudent manager, you need to quantify what is being requested.”

“It is not as though the government does not want to look at them. We are ready to shoulder these after considering them,” he added.

Nurses, midwives, Physician Assistants (PAs) and Anaesthetists (CRAs) in the public sector withdrew their services on Monday, September 21 to demand improved conditions of service.

The strike left many patients stranded nationwide because of the absence of health personnel.

The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations asked the striking nurses and midwives to immediately call off the industrial action and avail themselves for negotiations to continue.

The leadership of GRNMA called off the three-day-old strike on September 23, 2020.

The strike was suspended because the leadership of the association said they had officially received a court injunction restraining them from embarking on the industrial action.

The restraining order was secured by the National Labour Commission last Friday but the association still went ahead with the strike claiming it had not been properly served with the court document.

---citinewsroom