The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has issued a firm ultimatum to the government and health facility managers, warning of a full nationwide shutdown of nursing and midwifery services beginning Monday, June 9, 2025, if what it describes as “threats and intimidation” do not cease immediately.
In a strongly worded statement released on Thursday, June 5, and signed by President Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo and General Secretary David Tenkorang Twum, the GRNMA accused health authorities—particularly within the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG)—of resorting to coercive measures to weaken the association’s ongoing strike.
The industrial action, which started earlier in the week, is in protest over delays in implementing the 2024 Collective Agreement on conditions of service.
The Association criticised what it called unethical and unsafe practices, specifically the use of student nurses and rotation nurses to fill in for striking professionals in outpatient and emergency units.
“Calling on student nurses to work unsupervised at OPDs and emergency units is not only unethical, it is unsafe,” the statement said. It further noted that while rotation nurses are licensed, they are still required to work under supervision—conditions not being met under the current arrangements.
According to the GRNMA, they had proposed a reasonable timeline for the employer to secure necessary approvals and begin implementing the agreement.
But instead of constructive engagement, they claim the response has been met with intimidation, including alleged attempts by some managers to insert anti-strike clauses into appointment letters—a move the Association says directly violates Ghana’s Labour Act.
In what it describes as a protective measure against “burnout and unsafe clinical responsibility,” the GRNMA is now threatening a complete halt to all services if the alleged threats and replacements continue.
Members have been instructed to maintain the current partial withdrawal until Saturday, June 8. But from Monday, June 9, a total withdrawal of services is expected across all levels of care.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no nurse or midwife should report to work on 9th June,” the Association warned, adding that any continuation of current employer actions would leave them with “no option” but to escalate.
