Health workers strike over 'shady' pension scheme

Doctors and other health workers in public hospitals have withdrawn their services to out-patient departments owing to disagreements arising from government’s handling of pension funds.
This comes after an emergency meeting held by members of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and allied groups on Wednesday.
The strike, originally scheduled for Tuesday, failed to take off as many of the health workers across the country reported to work.
Dr Frank Serebour, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), attributed the failure of workers to commence on Tuesday to miscommunication saying that the instruction came rather late and there were no modalities set up.
“But with the emergency meeting held yesterday, the doctors, nurses and all other health workers will not report to work from today until government responds to their grievances,” he said.
The health workers’ strike is part of several announced by other labour unions government’s handling of their Tier II pension schemes.
The unionised bodies are rejecting government’s imposition of the Pension Alliance Trust, and also calling on the government to allow the full operationalisation of the Public Sector Pension Scheme.
Dr Serebour said as it is, doctors and other health workers who retire next year do not know how their pensions will be handled.
On the contrary, he said, politicians, most of whom are Article 71 office holders have an ex-gratia to benefit from four years after they leave power.
He does not understand why a worker who after decades of service to the state would not be treated well.
He said if government fails to address their immediate concerns, they would be forced to scale-up their strike by turning away emergency cases as well as services to in-patients.
Credit: B&FT