TRAINEE NURSES DECLARE STRIKE

TRAINEE nurses and midwives have begun an indefinite industrial action to demand increased allowances.

The group is demanding between 80 and 90 per cent rise in salaries as well as the issuance of letters of appointment by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to members who have completed their programmes of studies and are working in various capacities across board.

Announcing the decision at a press conference at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the President of the Ghana Nurses and Midwiffery Trainees Association, Mr Andrew Tetteh Holyfield, said the industrial action was on the heels of continued bias and unfair treatment being meted out to group by the GHS coupled with government’s inability to respond to persistent calls made by the association concerning the welfare of its members.

He indicated that the receipt of low remuneration for over ten years with some taking as low as GH¢45 per month was not only dehumanising but embarrassing to the cause the trainee nurses and midwives had chosen to serve the nation.

It explained that several petitions to their mother body, the GHS had yielded no results, ‘’while a a recent meeting with the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) only proposed a woefully inadequate upward adjustment’’, Mr Holyfied said.

‘’We have been denied the courtesy of response thus necessitating a press statement from the association warning the ramification of the unfortunate posture of government to our concerns’’, the president explained.

According to him, junior nurses who had been at post since 2009 had not been paid their salaries while those who assumed duty in 2010 were yet to receive appointment letters, some 10 clear months after they had graduated from school.

Similarly, he said the association was up in arms against the GHS, and accused officials of failing to adhere to ministerial directive on June 20, this year to backdate appointments of members and subsequently issued them with appointment letters after the association had petitioned the Minister of Health on the payment of internship allowance as well as salary disparity issues.

‘’It is at this highest point of frustration that we consider the withdrawal of our services as necessary’’, Mr Holyfield said.

He further stated that the posture taken by the association would not have arisen, if government had appreciated their concerns and interrogated the issues constructively.

He said members would not be coerced to begin the mandatory national service which begins this week without government and the appropriate agencies determining a respectful renumeration that ought to be mapped onto the single spine salary structure as well as an upward adjustment in the professional nurse’s salary.

‘’The tolerance of the student nurse has exceeded its elastic limit and we would like to put on record that our tools would remain down until the gap between the trainee nurse/midwife and the trainee teacher is bridged’’, the statement said.

The Deputy Health Minister, Mr Rojo Mettle Nunoo, who, however, described the strike by the group as “unofficial and unwarranted”, told the Daily Graphic that there was no point for the association to consider the allowances being given them as employment obligations since they were still in training and had not received certification to qualify them for practice.

According to him, the group was doing itself a disservice since its members were still in training and would necessarily have to complete rotations and internships before joining the actual profession.

Meanwhile the Ghana Registered Nurses' Association (GRNA) has urged its members in Tamale to rescind their decision to embark on a strike action.

A statement signed by the President of the GRNA, Mrs Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey, asked the nurses in Tamale to remain calm while the association worked with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for a smooth migration onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

The nurses in Tamale have threatened to lay down their tools because of the delay by the FWSC to migrate them into the SSSS.

However, the statement said in as much as the the GRNA appreciated the delay in the implementation of the SSSS and the frustration associated with it, "salary administration is a process and each process should be verified and agreed upon by all parties before moving to the next level".

It said every effort was being made by the government to resolve the internal conflict leading to the migration unto the SSSS, and that a meeting was called on September 26, 2011 including all health professionals.

It said a follow up meeting was scheduled from October 5, 2011 with the hope of concluding the discussion on the matter, for amicable resolution of the concerns raised by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).

"We hereby draw your attention to the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) which enjoins us as essential services to follow the due the process in resolving industrial disputes", the statement said.

"We are by this letter therefore requesting all to rescind your decision to embark on a strike action as the association will not be associated with it. You are however being advised to address your concerns to the National Executive Committee for redress instead of notification for strike action", it stressed.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Wed Oct 5, 2011