Members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) have threatened to go on strike over the delay in implementing condition of service and market premium agreements they had with the previous administration.
The GMA’s new president Dr. Frank Ankobea told journalists in Kumasi that they are giving the Akufo-Addo government up to the end of April next year to implement the agreement or face industrial action.
“The GMA, therefore, decides that if all the issues of full implementation of conditions of service and market premium together with the related matters of conversion difference and reduced pensions are not dealt with by government immediately, the GMA by 18 hours GMT, April 30, 2018, will begin a series of activities that will definitely affect the current industrial climate”.
In 2013, the GMA served notice that there could be a major disruption of services in public hospitals if government implemented its decision to scrap the market premium of workers.
The GMA said at the time that its members will not work over-time if the market premium got scrapped. Deputy General Secretary of the GMA at the time, Dr. Justice Yankson said if government scrapped the market premium, it must expect less output.
“Our over-time was called a market premium but government says it is going to scrap it and what we are telling government is that, you either find a means to pay us our overtime or we will work 40 hours as the labour has paid because that is what the fair wages is based on in terms of payment for all workers in the country is based on 40 hours so we will also work 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Beyond that period, the doctors are not going to work again.”
“If you are not going to pay me for the extra hours, 200 extra hours a month and sometimes beyond because Doctors who find themselves in district hospitals where we usually call them as one man station because he is the only man there, he works seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day and if you are not ready to pay for the extra hours, sometimes for 400 or 500 extra hours, we will also work for only 40 hours.”
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