President of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, Dr. Kweku Asante Krobea has condemned the statements by the Employment Minister, Haruna Iddrisu that striking nurses risk losing their salaries for the month in which they do not go to work in protest of their unpaid salaries.
The coalition of unpaid nurses and midwives on Sunday declared an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their salaries for some 6 to 22 months.
[contextly_sidebar id=”NBp0gPdQCEIarJbSnYttZJnXfJ9YDBW6″]The Minister has also stated that the government will not pay the striking nurses for the month of October if they do not return to work.
According to Mr. Iddrisu, the government through the Health and Labour Ministries are working to ensure that all monies owed the nurses are paid to them hence he believes there strike is unnecessary.
But speaking on Eyewitness News, Dr. Kweku Krobea expressed disappointment at the comments explaining that the Minister ought to have rather implored on the nurses and arrived at a compromise since he believes the call for negotiations is even ‘illegal’,
“…Nurses have a case you have failed to handle that and you have given vain promises and you have reneged on your promises and yet you are saying you will take against them for what they have done? I do not think that what he (Haruna Iddrisu) called for, that is a negotiation, is a lawful demand,”
The president who maintains that the mother union of nurses does not support the strike action however revealed that they may be forced to give in to the strike if the sector minister fails to fulfill what he referred to as ‘vain promises’ made to the aggrieved nurses in the period of the strike.
“As much as we do not support the strike action, if he goes on to say those things and think that they can impose disciplinary measures and get the nurses to lose their salaries, perhaps that is when he will get to see the dirty wrath of the nurses association because I do not think that it is fair at all, Dr. Asante Krobea said.
“Which soldier runs on an empty stomach?” he further queried.
Meanwhile Haruna Iddrisu has implored the nurses and midwives to return to work since their outstanding salaries will be paid by end of October.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana