Doctors, pharmacists, others adamant
Doctors and pharmacists in public health institutions have threatened to resume their industrial action to back their demand for the payment of market premium arrears for 2012.
While members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) are contemplating an industrial action, those of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOPSA) have decided to embark on a nationwide strike with effect from Monday April 8, 2013.
Since March 22, 2013, members of GHOPSA have embarked on a work-to-rule action.
Meanwhile, public university lecturers have also resolved to continue their strike until the government pays all arrears owed them from their migration onto the single spine salary strucuture (SSSS).
The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG, Dr Anthony Simmons told participants in a public forum in Accra last Thursday that members would not return to lecture room until the government paid all arrears owed them.
He said the lecturers were not prepared to accept the proposal by the government to stagger the payment of their market premium arrears from 2012.
For its part the GMA, after a crunch National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Kumasi on Saturday, March 6, 2013 resolved to resume its industrial action.
The President of the GMA, Dr Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, told the Daily Graphic, "We don't take delight in embarking on strikes, but it appears that is the language the government wants to hear".
He said it was not the intention of doctors to hold the nation to ransom.
"Not at all, but we have been pushed to the wall too much", he said.
On February 12, 2013, the GMA called off its strike following the intervention by the Presidency.
A meeting was called between the GMA, the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) after which the doctors announced their decision to back down on the strike.
A joint statement signed by Dr Opoku-Adusei and Dr Frank Serebour, the General Secretary of the GMA, after the doctors had called off the strike, said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreed upon committed both the GMA and the FWSC to abide :by the ruling of the NLC.
The parties were also to have further discussions that would spell out clearly the implementation process to the NLC by February 20, 2013.
The doctors suspended their earlier action in the hope that the right thing would be done, but they said up till now government had not taken any steps to address their concerns.
Mr Ernest Owusu Aboagye, the spokesperson of GHOPSA in an interview with Daily Graphic said the association had accordingly served notice to all health managers of its decision to embark on the nationwide strike and cautioned that "GHOPSA will not countenance any attempts from any quarter to undermine the collective and legitimate demands".
Explaining the reason for the industrial action, Mr Aboagye said, "We have noted with regret and disappointment that in spite of several meetings, assurances and engagements with all stakeholders, it appears nothing is going to be done about the baseless and unfair market premium that the FWSC has unilaterally and arbitrarily 'imposed' on pharmacists since October 2011".
According to him, that had gravely demotivated the rank and file of members, as "pharmacists remain the sole cadre of labour who generally earn less on the SSSS than on the Health Sector Salary Two after migration".
"Unless and until a specific, definite and clear decision that is fair and just and restores the appropriate relativities in remuneration in the health sector on the market premium for pharmacists is arrived at within the shortest possible time, they will not return to work", Mr Aboagye said.
Story Graphic Reportors/Graphic.com.gh
