Nurses and midwives call off strike

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association has called off its strike which began last Monday.

The leadership of the association, at a press conference Wednesday, said it was in respect of a court order obtained by the National Labour Commission.

The nurses and midwives went on strike over what they say was a breakdown in communication with the government over their conditions of service.

President of the association, Perpetual Ofori Ampofo directed that all their members are to resume work on Thursday.

She said the decision to suspend the strike was also because of their “innate passion” for their patients.

The association warned they were ‘temporarily’ suspending the strike, hinting that they could resume their strike action if conditions remained unfavourable for their members.

“….for the avoidance of doubt, our strike is merely suspended,” the GRNMA President Perpetual Ofori Ampofo said.

The decision ends three days of no work, a period in which patients have had to be turned away while other departments depending on the nurses and midwives have been affected.

The National Labour Commission obtained an interlocutory injunction three days to the strike, arguing the GRNMA did not comply with due process in declaring the strike.

It has explained the association ought to have informed the commission of their intended action.

The High Court, Labour Division, presided over by Justice Frank Aboagye Rockson, said the injunction was for 10 days and upon its expiration, the commission was to come back to court on notice.

Government has maintained the strike is a violation of the Labour Act. It said the rules of engagement agreed with the labour group required that the parties refrain from going to the press while talks were ongoing.

The government released a chronology of events which it said showed the nurses and midwives association were acting in bad faith.

Chronology of events according to government

• On the 17th of September 2019, by a letter number FWSC/D/SCR/90/Vol.2/42 the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) wrote to the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to formally request for proposals for the re-negotiation of their Conditions of Service.
• This was after the GRNA had failed to respond to earlier informal overtures and the Government Team had concluded negotiations with all other professional associations within the Health Sector.
• The FWSC needed to conclude negotiations with GRNMA so that the new rates of the allowances could be factored into the 2020 National Budget.
• The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives’ Association delayed their response till the 20th January 2020 when they officially submitted their proposals to FWSC.
• FWSC after receiving and considering the said proposals set the 18th February 2020 for negotiations to begin and invited the GRNA by a formal letter.
• However, on 17th February, 2020, just a day before the negotiation was to commence, the GRNMA, citing errors in the earlier proposal, per letter number GRNMA/S/20-02/17/01 re-submitted their Conditions of Service proposals.
• Due to this new development and the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions, FWSC could not continue negotiations with GRNMA on their Conditions of Service after the re-submission of their proposals.
• On 4th and 5th June, 2020, the Government Team led by FWSC engaged in meetings with GRNMA to officially kick-start negotiations with the Association on their Conditions of Service.
• At this meeting GRNMA submitted nine (9) new proposals (non-core allowances) for the consideration of the Government Team.
• Agreement was reached on ALL items presented in their original proposals except ‘Accommodation on Transfer’ and requested for time to study the nine (9) new proposals submitted, in order to ascertain their financial implications.
• On 3rd September, 2020 the parties met to finalize negotiations on their Conditions of Service and the government presented counter proposals in respect of the nine (9) new proposals
• The GRNA rejected all the counter proposals and immediately gave the Government Team a two-week ultimatum to come up with better counter proposals contrary to the Rules of Engagement.
• On 15th September, 2020, both parties reconvened at the Ministry of Health to try to reach agreement on the nine (9) new proposals.
• At that meeting both parties were able to reach agreement on the Non-Basic Salary Allowance, which was part of the nine (9) new proposals.
• In order to ensure speedy conclusion of negotiations, another meeting was held on 16th September, 2020 at the instance of the Government Team to try to reach agreement on the eight (8) other proposals.
• It must be noted that the Government Team, in principle, agreed to six (6) out of the eight outstanding proposals submitted by GRNMA, namely;

Uniform:
To be supplied by Government by way of a one-off payment by the Controller and Accountant General

Fuel
Coverage of beneficiaries to be stepped down to include Principal Nursing Officers as against the current cut-off point of Deputy Director of Nursing and paid through the payroll

On Call Facilitation
This allowance is to be paid to specified classes of Nurses including:
Physician Assistants
Anaesthetists
Critical Care
Midwives
Nursing Specialists
The Government Team’s preferred option was for the allowance to be paid at the facility level vis-à-vis the payroll

Book and Research
This allowance is to be paid to Lecturers in Degree Awarding Institutions; Government to consider the rate or levels of payment as well as the mode of payment

Professional Development
This allowance is under consideration by Government in terms of eligibility criteria and the mode of payment

Rural Incentive
This allowance is to be paid subject to the outcome of a study to demarcate rural areas. The only allowances in the proposal that could not be positively considered were:
Transport
Rent

Transport Allowance is a Category 2 Allowance payable upon activities at the facility level and cannot be captured on payroll.

Rent is an Allowance limited, per the Single Spine Pay Policy, to Category A & B Officers ie. Directors and above throughout the Public Service. Any attempt to extend it to levels below the above-mentioned categories would create unfairness and a distortion in the single spine salaries structure, as it would be impractical (cost-wise) to replicate same across the rest of the civil and public services sectors.
The only point of departure was the mode of payment of these new allowances.

• Both parties therefore agreed to a four (4) week time frame where concrete decisions would be taken on the outstanding proposals and also agreed to keep these out of the media for the duration of negotiations.
• The Government Team is therefore at a loss as to why the GRNMA decided to declare an industrial action effective 21st September, 2020, contrary to the agreement reached on 16th September, 2020.