The Coalition of Unemployed Trained Nurses at the Holy Family Nurses Training College at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, has threatened to embark on a strike over the Ministry of Health’s failure to clear them for postings.
According to the President of the Coalition, Bless Ackah, the demonstration is expected to come off on August 10.
[contextly_sidebar id=”wDXYuFS0ODfpjy4sVUAk30ZiTB630K8Y”]Mr. Ackah told Citi News efforts to get them posted have yielded no results hence their decision to protest.
“It’s been a year and a half now and we haven’t been employed. All efforts for us to be employed have proved futile so we are embarking on a demonstration on the 10th of this month to tell the government to post us,” he said.
According to Mr. Ackah, 82 bonded nurses out of the over two thousand graduates, had their names omitted from the clearance given by Ministry of Health in May.
“It’s been four months now since they posted our colleagues. Initially when we went there, we were told it was an omission and that we should give them three weeks to correct it and clear us; but after petitioning them twice, we went there and they told us that the Ministry is broke and they can no more employ us again,” he said.
Mr. Bless Ackah wondered why the Ministry is being unfair to them especially when their legal contract bonds them exclusively to the Ministry for five years of work.
“They are not being fair to us; they are being discriminatory. Meanwhile they bonded us and by the terms of the bond, we are not supposed to work anywhere apart from them posting and employing us. And by our terms, we are supposed to serve them for 5 years. If we don’t serve, since it is a legal document, we can be taken on.”
Background
There have been series of strike by nurses over their postings to health facilities and other challenges.
In July 2016, over 1,000 unemployed registered graduate nurses threatened to hit the streets in a massive demonstration over government’s failure to secure them postings to healthcare facilities.
In April 2016, the Coalition of Unemployed Nurses also threatened to embark on a demonstration to occupy Flagstaff House, over delays in their postings.
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By: Kwabena Agyare/citifmonline.com/Ghana