The Ghana Registered Nurses’ and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA), has said Members of the Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG) are not part of them as they have broken away.
This follows calls by the UPNMG asking the government to “pay all Public Sector Workers” a Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) to avert further industrial actions.
Spokesperson for GRNMA, Joseph Krampah, said although their call is in a right direction, they are no longer part of their association as they (UPNMG) begun the COLA talks with government first.
To him, his outfit is recognised by law and has the bargaining certificate and therefore wondered why the UPNMG will also issue a statement they have already raised with government.
“We have over 91,000 members and the rest are the ones who have broken away from us, we have tried all we can to ensure that we get a common front but everyone has their own interest and decided to go a different way.
“Our association is the first to talk about the COLA and has released our statement. We met with organised labour and agreed on the 20 percent and so we are the recognised union. The UPNMG has no bargaining certificate. They were forced to release that statement when they realised we had released ours. We are not part of them,” he said on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Wednesday.
Speaking on why nurses deserve the 20 percent Cost of Living Allowance, Mr Krampah said the earlier government begins to think about relooking at the conditions in which Nurses and Midwives work in Ghana the better it will be for the health system as Nurses and Midwives play a major role in the health delivery system.
Her said COLA has become necessary following the high cost of living in the country.
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