Labour and Employment Minister Dr. Rashid Pelpuo has called on the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to reconsider their ongoing nationwide strike.
The Wa Central MP asked the Association to recognise that the current administration is new and should be given a fair chance to engage on the issues at stake.
In a recent interview, Dr. Pelpuo said, “Well, we are more than shocked. We are disturbed. We are worried that they could go into a decision of a strike without much talk with us, because I believe very strongly that if they started what they said they started a year ago or two years ago this is a new administration”.
According to him, the government is committed to rebuilding trust and improving relations with labour unions, including nurses and midwives.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure we have a stable economy. We have a stable society. We work with workers to get their full support for how we can run this country,” he stated.
The strike, which began on Monday, follows a breakdown in negotiations between the GRNMA and the Ministry of Health.
The standoff centers on the government’s request to defer implementation of new conditions of service until 2026, a proposal the GRNMA has firmly rejected.
Dr. Pelpuo stated that he wasn’t given the chance to meet with the GRNMA before the strike was declared and believes an dialogue could have led to a different outcome.
“I had a chat with the president of the Nurses and Midwives Association, and I was complaining that they did not have the chance the opportunity. They did not create the opportunity for me to have an interaction with them before the strike”.
“I informed her that I wish we had had some conversation after she had those kinds of discussions with other sector ministers or other stakeholders” he emphasized.
