<<Print>>Orgnised Labour is not pleased with President John Mahama for calling the bluff of striking doctors over their conditions of service.
Though they are in talks with government for a possible way forward on the document on their conditions of service, President Mahama at the 80th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association in Accra, said he will not authorize the payment of salaries and allowances that have not been captured in the budget, staying true to his resolve that he won’t yield to pressure from labour. “Making those comments will not really help the negotiation because he is saying that he won’t give in to what would dislocate the budget,” General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Kofi Asamoah said on in an interview on Eyewitness News.
He also called on both the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and government to return to the negotiation table. He said, “If the government as a party to the negotiation has any reaction to a proposal, he should go to the negotiation table. Indirectly what it means is that he should direct his people to the negotiation table and negotiate.” “…Parties should also avoid discussion of issues under negotiations in the media. It is also not fair. Until you reach an agreement, those comments here and there are not acceptable. By the same tone we are saying parties should resume negotiations in good faith,” Kofi Asamoah added. Meanwhile an earlier statement issued by the organised labour “urged the GMA and the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) to resume work while negotiations continue.”
President Mahama had insisted that any attempt to yield to the demands by the doctors could crash the single spine salary structure. “I will not authorize any expenditure on wages and compensation not provided for in the budget. Fiscal discipline requires that not a single pesewa is spent on remuneration outside what has been budgeted for. This goes to both article 71 office holders and those on the single spine. It goes for the president as well as the lowest public sector employee. I’m determined to hold the line no matter the political cost. Our people have sacrificed enough,” Mahama added.