Labour consultant Austin Gamey has urged the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) to reconsider their ongoing strike, describing it as a risky move that could endanger public health and destabilize proper labour practices.
Speaking in an interview on Starr FM, Gamey acknowledged the frustrations behind the nurses’ demands but stressed the importance of dialogue over confrontation.
“But I never allowed them, I never agreed with them throughout the eight years of Nana Addo’s regime to go on strike, because it is dangerous for them to go on strike,” he said.
He noted that during the previous administration, efforts were made to resolve disputes without resorting to industrial action, even when negotiations were tough.
“We endeavor to try and resolve our matters, no matter how painful it might be to us,” he added. Gamey also clarified that the concerns currently raised by the nurses were not new.
“Including what they are fighting for now, it was there, it was approved, but could not be implemented because the employer later thought it was too dangerous and expensive to implement, and so they shelved it.”
He emphasized that while government changes, the responsibilities of the employer remain constant.
“The pressure they are mounting now on the present employer—I would call it government. It’s an employer. Government comes, government goes, but the employer, the workers remain intact.”
In his view, the employer’s hesitation to implement the agreement at this time is grounded in legal and practical realities.
“They felt it cannot be implemented at this point in time, and by law, by practice, and by implication and an imposition on both of them, both the employer and the union being the nurses,” he concluded.
