<<Print>>

Government has dragged the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to the National Labour Commission (NLC) in what appears to be a last minute attempt to stop them from following through with the threat to resign en bloc if their conditions of service are not provided by June 30.

In a communiqué issued by the GMA, the association said it will not entertain any further delays in its quest to get detailed conditions of service from government.

But government had indicated to the GMA it will be unable to meet their request within the stipulated time frame.

In an interview with Citi News, the General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Frank Serebuor who disclosed the NLC invitation said it is unsure what the meeting is about because no specificities were given.

“We are also wondering why we are being invited because the letter that was written was very short. We are being invited to a meeting on Wednesday at 2pm so we want to go and see why they are calling us,” he explained.

According to him, they are honouring the invitation since the association wants to avoid a situation whereby “somebody will use these things as a propaganda tool to say that when they called us, we didn’t come so we will be surprised to hear that if we don’t go, they will tell us that they were about starting negotiations at the National Labour Commission and we didn’t.”

He however insisted the public sector doctors will not back down until their needs are met.

In a related development, the Greater Accra branch of the GMA has voted massively in favour of their impending industrial action.

The GMA’S Greater Accra Regional president, Dr. Ernest Yorke said they took the decision because government is taking them for granted for far too long.

“It’s a deliberate attempt but let everybody be aware that this time, we are not going back on our word,” he said.

Dr. Yorke dismissed the assertion that the conditions of service the doctors are demanding is in relation to their salaries alone.

He clarified that document is not just about monetary compensation; “it has other aspects – how you are employed, your terms of reference, your responsibilities, leave schedules, your entitlement so it goes beyond just your salary compensation so we need that document.”

He recalled that the GMA began the process to get their conditions of service over 10 years ago “and we nearly came to sign the document but they scuttled it.”