GRNMA demands full implementation of agreement

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has called on government to urgently honour its collective agreement, citing the unfair exclusion of key allowances from the mid-year budget and the persistent neglect of nurses and midwives’ welfare despite their critical role in national healthcare delivery.

Disappointment

Speaking at a press conference last Friday, the President of the GRNMA, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, said the association was disappointed that only two out of four agreed allowances were included in the 2025 mid-year budget.

The two were the uniform allowance and the book and research allowance.

She said the remaining two, the eight per cent non-basic allowance and the fuel allowance, were excluded, a decision the association considered unacceptable.

Mrs Ofori-Ampofo explained that the government’s current position did not reflect a commitment to the welfare of the over 125,000 nurses and midwives across the country.

She said the agreement was signed in May 2024 but had since suffered setbacks due to lack of political will and stressed that the transition between governments was not an excuse for abandoning signed agreements, especially when health workers continued to work around the clock in challenging conditions.

Mrs Ofori-Ampofo further expressed frustration that the employer had failed to include the cost of the agreement in the national budget presented in March, despite repeated promises to do so and criticised internal divisions caused by colleagues who pursued legal battles, which she said had weakened the association’s negotiating position.

CHAG intimidation tactics

Mrs Ofori-Ampofo addressed recent concerns involving the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and warned the CHAG officials against targeting nurses who took part in the recent industrial actions, stating that the staff remained government employees and were under the direction of the association during the protest.

She said the association had issued a formal statement to CHAG and instructed its legal team to monitor the situation closely.

The GRNMA had warned that it would take legal action against any form of discrimination or intimidation targeted at members.

“We will defend our members at every turn,” she said.

Mrs Ofori-Ampofo addressed concerns of newly posted nurses who had not received their salaries since December 2024, as well as rotational interns and unemployed nursing graduates and assured them that the association was compiling data and engaging with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to resolve those matters.

“We are not asking for favours.

We are asking for fairness, respect and the rightful implementation of what we have worked for and signed together with government. This is about social justice,” she added.