The Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives (UPNMG) say they also deserve a 20% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Their call comes a few hours after four teacher unions in the country embarked on a nationwide strike in demand for COLA.
All four teacher unions in the Pre-Tertiary Education Sector have embarked on a nationwide strike in response to the government’s failure to grant them a 20% cost of living allowance amidst the current high inflation rate, and increases in the price of goods and services, among others.
The demand was first made by the Trades Union Congress(TUC) at this year’s May Day celebrations.
But after their June 30 ultimatum was not met, the teachers triggered the industrial action to withdraw their services.
Throwing their weight behind the teacher unions in a statement UPNMG said “The strike called by teachers in their joint press release was a call in the right direction and deserves the full backing of all labour unions in the country.
“The leadership of UPNMG is surprised at the laxity with which the welfare of Nurses and Midwives has been handled in these hard economic times, we have waited for the bearer of the Collective Bargaining Certificate for Nurses and Midwives to make a move in demanding for this COLA but little is heard from them. We have, thus, taken it upon ourselves as the second-largest union within the Nursing and Midwifery profession to appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency take a critical look at the matter.” part of the statement read.
The union said it was time conditions under which midwives and nurses work in Ghana were relooked and revised.
It further called on the government to pay all public sector workers COLA.
“The leadership is, therefore, calling on the employer as a matter of urgency to pay all Public Sector Workers the COLA to avert further industrial actions”
“We are calling for engagement on these matters not necessarily a strike at this time but it would be inevitable if what we are expecting doesn’t happen and we are left in limbo as we see ourselves this time”.
The President of the Association, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, insists they are left with no choice but to strike if the government does not engage them by next week.
“We are calling for engagement on these matters not necessarily a strike at this time but it would be inevitable if what we are expecting doesn’t happen and we are left in limbo as we see ourselves this time, I am expecting that not later than next week, such a meeting would be called so that we can engage and know the way forward on these matters,” she told 3FM monitored by theghanareport.com.
Read the full statement below:
NURSES AND MIDWIVES ALSO DESERVE A COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)
The leadership of the Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG) is surprised at the laxity with which the welfare of Nurses and Midwives has been handled during these hard economic times. In 2014, a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) of 10% of Public Sector Worker’s Basic Salary was paid to workers to cushion us when things got tough due to the high cost of living.
In 2022, we find ourselves in a similar economic situation and we expected nothing short of a similar stop-gap measure to cushion the many Nurses and Midwives in the Country. Yesterday, Unions in the education sector laid down their tools to drum home this request which was brought to the attention of the Employer during the May Day celebration and followed up with a formal letter by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on the 24th of June 2022.
We, the members of the UNION OF PROFESSIONAL NURSES AND MIDWIVES, GHANA (UPNMG) are equally calling on the government to as a matter of urgency introduce at least 20% of our basic salaries as COLA whiles we wait for the managers of the economy to turn things around.
The strike called by teachers in their joint press release is a call in the right direction and deserves the full backing of all labor unions in the country.
We have waited for the bearer of the Collective Bargaining Certificate for Nurses and Midwives to make a move in demanding this COLA but little is heard from them. We have, thus, taken it upon ourselves as the second-largest union within the Nursing and Midwifery profession to appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency take a critical look at the matter.
The earlier we begin to think about relooking at the conditions in which Nurses and Midwives work in Ghana the better it will be for our health system as Nurses and Midwives play a major role in the health delivery system.
The leadership is, therefore, calling on the employer as a matter of urgency to pay all Public Sector Workers the COLA to avert further industrial actions.