By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Bolgatanga, May 02, GNA –The leadership of the General Nurses Group (GNG), an affiliate of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), to form taskforces across the country to ensure full compliance with the association’s road map for the industrial action
The GRNMA on May 28, 2025, released a roadmap on the planned industrial action to register its displeasure on the “overly delayed” implementation of their collective agreement.
According to the association, the said collective agreement was signed in May 2024 between the GRNMA and its employer but was not implemented despite several visits to the Ministries of Finance and Health.
The GRNMA said the delay was not only a disservice to Ghanaian nurses and midwives but posed threat to delivery of quality health services to the citizenry.
In the roadmap to a full-blown industrial action, the GRNMA said members would wear red arm and head bands from June 2 to June 3, withdraw all Out-Patient Department (OPD) services between June 4 and June 8 and from June 9 onwards, they would withdraw all services.
Madam Kate Mensah-Botchwey, National Secretary of the GNG, who disclosed the formation of the taskforces to the Ghana News Agency, said they would operate in all public health facilities across the country.
She said the taskforces would be formed at the national level, and same would be done across the country, and indicated that though members were ready and eager to comply with the roadmap, the taskforces would visit public health facilities across the country to ensure full compliance.
“They will move round all the public health facilities to monitor the situation to give updates to leadership of the GRNMA, our mother Association, on compliance across the country,” Madam Mensah-Botchwey said.
According to her, there was pressure on leadership of the GRNMA by members to start industrial action immediately.
“The agitations on our platforms are massive because the Professional Identification Numbers (PINs) of most members are invalid, and that is part of our collective agreement. So, on Monday, you will see us wearing red bands across the country,” the National Secretary of the GNG said.
Following the threat, the Ministry of Health, in a letter dated May 28, 2025, invited leadership of the GRNMA to a meeting to discuss the implementation of the negotiated agreement.
However, the GRNMA in a statement after the meeting insisted that the roadmap should be followed through, until the agreement was approved by the Ministry of Finance.
Several affiliate groups of the GRNMA, including the Paediatric Nurses Society–Ghana, the Ear, Nose and Throat Nurses Society-Ghana, the Enrolled Nurses Group, the Nurse Practitioners Society of Ghana among others, released solidarity messages in support of the planned industrial action.
GNA
Edited by Fatima Anafu-Astanga/Benjamin Mensah