Ghana’s striking doctors who are mainly members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) are in a fix following the government decision to pull out of the negotiation.
The government says the doctors’ partial withdrawal of services at the public hospitals across the country is making difficult to continue to engage them on the negotiating table.
In a bid to compel them to end the about one month illegal strike as described by the President John Dramani Mahama, the government has given the strongest indication that it would not pay the salaries of striking doctors and other public sector workers for the period they have stayed away from work.
According to a statement signed by the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu, stated: “Government wishes to remind all public sector workers of the provisions of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), which states among others that a worker on strike “may forfeit his/her remuneration in respect of the period during which he/she is engaged in the illegal strike.”
To this end, the government, accordingly directed all heads of government establishments where workers have embarked on illegal (partial or full) strike actions to compile and submit to their respective Ministers of State the list of workers who have been absenting themselves from work as a result of a strike or protest, the said.
It added: “The compiled lists are to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance on or before Friday August 14, 2015 for necessary action.
By this statement, Government is once again appealing to public sector workers presently on strike to call off their action and return to work while negotiations continue in good faith”.
This warning came at the time when members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) are on strike over their conditions of service. Also, University teachers are also on strike over their book and research allowance.
Commenting on the doctors’ strike recently, President John Dramani Mahama urged them to go back to work while they engage in negotiation, indicating that government was not prepared to spend any unbudgeted funds on them.
He maintained that the government was determined to strictly follow austere measures with regards to the budget, hence he would not approve any monies outside it.
The President, who for the first time broke his silence on the ongoing doctors’ strike action, over unreasonable demands, stated that: “Any agreement that is reached in respect of allowances or conditions of services would have to be appropriately captured in the budget.
“And I want to say for emphasis, I would not authorize any expenditure on wages and compensations not provided for in the budget. “Physical discipline requires that not a single pesewa is spent on remuneration outside what has been budgeted for”, President Mahama told Midwives and other health professionals, seven days after medical doctors declared their strike action.
“And this goes for both Article 71 office holders and those on the Single Spine. It goes for the president, as well as the lowest public sector employee. I am determined to hold the line, no matter the political cost”, he explained.
Speaking during the 80th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association in Accra, President Mahama said: “Just yesterday, a friend was urging me to intervene and accede to the demand of the doctors.
“After all there are only 2,800 of them”, he told me. “What he failed to realize is that there are 590,000 other public sector workers organized in 11 other professional groups lined up and just waiting to see what the doctors come away with from the negotiating table, before they put in their own demands. This will adversely affect the single spine pay policy and could result in breaking the spine.”
He added that: “The right to negotiate by professional groups is sacrosanct and I believe that government and the medical officers must continue the dialogue of the conditions of service to arrive at an amicable solution in an atmosphere that is devoid of coercion.
“Currently, other negotiations are ongoing on other categories of allowances at the public services joint negotiation committee. Any agreements that are reached in respect of allowances of conditions of services will have to be appropriately captured in the budget.
“I will not authorize any expenditure on wages and compensation not provided for in the budget. Fiscal discipline requires that not a single pesewa is spent on remuneration outside what has been budgeted for.”
The West African country’s health sector has been characterized with labour agitations and strike actions with the latest being medical doctors. Their reason for embarking on the strike action stems from what they describe as government’s refusal to give them improved conditions of service. Already, more than three people have died and this has been attributed to the doctors’ strike, while several patients are being turned away from the country’s public health facilities across the length and breadth of Ghana.
It would be recalled that about three weeks ago, some 90 junior doctors stormed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to demand for their 11 months’ salary arrears, which has since been paid by the government.
As if that was not enough, nurses at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital recently called off their sit-down strike after assurances from Mr. Haruna Iddrisu that monies have been released for onward payment.
But the doctors who keep shifting their position from resignation to partial strike say they would continue on strike on until their condition of services are codified.
We are therefore adding our voice to the several others and appeal to the doctors to end the strike, as innocent patients are losing their lives because of the strike.
African Eye News.com
