An Accra High Court has placed an interlocutory injunction on an impending industrial action by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA).
This follows an ex parte application filed by lawyers for the National Labour Commission which prayed the court to prevent the nurses and midwives from embarking on their intended strike scheduled for Monday, September 21, 2020.
The GRNMA had informed its members and affiliated associations to lay down their working tools from 8am on Monday over what they call government’s failure to meet their demands for improved working conditions.
The association has been engaging government in series of meetings to find a solution to their demands for better working conditions.
But the GRNMA in a statement notes that “Having reconvened in the meetings held on 15th and 16th September, 2020 the posture of the Employer changed for the better but did not meet the expectation of the majority of Nurses, Midwives, Physician Assistants and Certified Registered Anaesthetists in Ghana.”
As a result, “The Employer (government) is hereby notified that Nurses, Midwives, Physician Assistants and Certified Registered Anaesthetists will withdraw their services from Monday, 21st September, 2020 if they fail to address the concerns raised by the GRNMA team.”
The statement, therefore, urged “The general public is advised to seek medical attention from other health facilities”.
However, lawyers for the National Labour Commission subsequently went to court seeking an order to restrain the association and its members as well affiliated associations from embarking on the intended strike.
The court presided over Justice Frank Aboagye Rockson granted the application and placed an interlocutory injunction on the association.
The injunction is to last for 10 days and the applicant is to return to court for extension after it has expired.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak