Condition of Service Negotiations: GMA expresses lack of confidence in NLC –

A member of the Ghana Medical Association’s (GMA) negotiation team has expressed lack of confidence in the ability of the National Labour Commission (NLC) to resolve the impasse between striking doctors and government.
Dr Adom Winful in an interview with Joy News said, “by the tenets of the labour law, three days after an employee in an essential service has brought up a complaint, measures must be put in place to resolve it. If nothing can be done within the three days, then there is a 14-day period within which all arrangements must be made to resolve it. If it doesn’t work, then there should be compulsory arbitration.
“Why are we sitting here and the NLC has kept quiet on this important issue [has remained unresolved] till date. They haven’t come out with any document, statement or anything, they are quiet. The NLC has been quiet about this important issue till date”, he added.
A crucial meeting between the Commission, the doctors and government is expected to be held today (Wednesday) to determine if the doctors will meet government’s 48-hour ultimatum and return to work.
The ultimatum expires tomorrow, Thursday, August 20.
Dr Winful told, who is also a former president of the GMA said the NLC has consistently failed to enforce its own rules and questioned the commission’s silence in the ongoing impasse.
“They [NLC] have awarded cost against government in favour of GMA but they have not been able to enforce their own ruling so they even cannot come and talk to the GMA as a credible arbitrator simply because they cannot function as an arbitrator”.
He added that “as far as GMA is concerned, nobody has any trust in them because their own laws and rules have been flouted by government and they have not raised any issues”.
According to him, if the members of the GMA had not gone on strike government would not have addressed issues concerning their conditions of service so ”if doctors are illegally on strike, government has also been very illegal in not giving space for people to address their grievances, they have committed a bigger illegality, they should not blame the GMA for what has happened”.
Meanwhile, public health facilities that were forced to turn away patients because of the strike were expected to resume full operations today following a directive by Health Minister Alex Segbefia yesterday.
Joy News’ Fred Smith visited the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and reports that at the Out-Patient Department (OPD) at the polyclinic, there were no patients.
Only one nurse was on duty but she said she cannot admit patients because there are no doctors to attend to them.
She added that the departments had not received instruction from management to resume work.