Gov't pharmacists threaten to withdraw essential services
Pharmacists in government hospitals have threatened to withdraw all emergency and in-patient services if the government fails to address their concerns by today.
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According to the leadership of the Government Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), the umbrella body of public service pharmacists, the decision was part of additional measures to press home its demand for changes in the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP).
“We want to assure the government that having waited and endured nearly six years for a resolution to this matter, having believed in all assurances and committees to do justice, we are determined, for once, to see the end of this matter,” the Chairman of GHOSPA, Mr Agyemang Badu, said at a press conference in Accra yesterday.
He said members of GHOSPA were tired of having to endure pain and constant disappointment from the government.
Background
Pharmacists in government hospitals last week Monday began a nationwide indefinite strike to press home their demand for the government to rectify some disparities in the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).
The pharmacists are demanding that their salary grade structure, the interim market premium and their conditions of service be reviewed by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
The GHOSPA had claimed that after the migration onto the policy, the salaries of its members turned out to be far lower than before.
This is not the first time the association has embarked on an industrial action. Since 2012, it has undertaken similar interventions to register its displeasure.
A few days after their indefinite strike, the National Labour Commission (NLC) dragged the members of GHOSPA to the Labour Division of the High Court to compel them to call off their industrial action.
Some members of the association at the press conference. Picture: MAXWELL OCLOO
The ministries of Health and Labour and Employment Relations followed with an appeal to the leadership of GHOSPA to rescind the decision and resume work.
Despite constant pressure from those bodies, he said, the association would not back down until its demands were met.
“We have patiently and respectfully appeared before several committees, meetings and negotiations with no results. The FWSC has made it abundantly clear its resolve to hide behind the law to perpetuate such blatant injustices on pharmacists in the public sector,” he said.
Lots of disappointment
Over the last six years, Mr Badu said, GHOSPA had gone through all the processes, including the court, to address the problem but nothing had materialised from their efforts.
Concerning the law suit, he said GHOSPA was shocked to hear that the NLC had dragged it to court.
“We do not believe there is anything more on our salary for the NLC to adjudicate on after six years. These issues have been before the commission for nearly six years,” he added.
Mr Badu said the association was ready to meet the NLC in court because the industrial action was not a breach of the law.