The members of the Government and Hospitals Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), will begin their indefinite strike today [Monday] to press home demands for changes to their market premiums.
The association has indicated that this course of action has been necessitated by the continuous breakdown of negotiations with government over its grade structure and placement in public health facilities.
[contextly_sidebar id=”thRuKPyXdkieQAVrNNAc58dGqJi37aqU”]GHOSPA last went on strike, in August 2015, over the same unresolved market premium issue with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) concerning conversion differences after migration onto the Single Spine Salary Structure.
GHOSPA’s General Secretary, Emmanuel Owusu Owiafe, earlier lamented to Citi News that his association has been negotiations with government for six years but to no avail.
He also noted that other pharmacists working for government, but outside the Health Service, are receiving better market premiums.
“Within the health service, we are having discrepancies in our interim market payment even comparable to our colleague pharmacists in some public sector institutions. Pharmacists working in university hospitals are on a premium of 1.14 meanwhile the Fair Wages and salaries Commissions are putting pharmacists working in the Ghana health services at 0.58 and that is a huge discrepancy.”
Mr. Owiafe further warned that, “We are very resolute and if things are not concluded for us where there is a clear instruction to the Ministry of Health and the Controller and Accountant General, we will not rescind on this strike.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana