Volta Region: Health services workers' union marks union anniversary with a call for decent working conditions

Members of the Health Service Workers' Union (HSW), Volta Region have begun this year's union week celebration with a call on employers to create flexible working conditions for its members.

This year's anniversary is on the theme "Rising Together For Decent Work in the Digital Age" and it is slated for September 4 to September 9, 2023.

Members of the union on Wednesday, September 6 organised a clean-up exercise in Karachi West district hospital in Kete Karachi of the Oti Region.

Speaking on the theme for the anniversary after the exercise, the Regional Industrial Relations Officer of the union, Richard Moses Appiah, said digital transformation has become the order of the day but employers must make sure that it does not have an adverse effect on the human workforce.

He explained his point saying "It must be noted that since 2014, global unions have identified the Future World of Work and digital transformation as a priority policy issue. But it is fair to say that digitalization is no longer an event that will take place in the future".

"Indeed, the future is now. In recent years the digital transformation of our economies has given this topic a new urgency in all our sectors, especially the health sector. Changes to the nature of the work and the quality of jobs are coming at a steady pace. These shifts have been accelerated by the pandemic, which hastened the adoption of online work and service delivery".

"A cleaner may now clean only those parts of the building that have been used the previous day – as detected by a digital sensor and machines clean faster and better resulting in the employment of fewer workforce. In some cases, workers are not necessarily seeing the scope of their jobs change, but are being pushed to work harder and faster, through technology designed to squeeze the greatest effort from their every minute at work" he added.

Richard Moses Appiah further said that in every circumstance, "we believe that the Union and the employer as well as the government must be at the bargaining table to negotiate the impacts of these changes - to ensure that the new forms of work are safe, that workers have a wage with dignity, that schedules are fair, and that workers share in the gains of new efficiencies".

"We cannot talk about digitalization and not talk about the issues of public sectors outsourcing most of the jobs to private organizations. We believe this poses a serious challenge to our members who are still in the system as they work more with few workers. Some of the outsourcing sectors are hospital orderlies, security, catering services, drivers and to mention but a few" he mentioned.

The Regional Industrial Relations Officer has therefore called on employers to create flexible working conditions for its members including pension schemes to enable them to enjoy their retirement age devoid of financial difficulties.

"Employers must give sufficient notice before technology is introduced to allow time for an assessment relating to the impact on safety, expectations, job security, privacy, and other issues. Monitoring and data collection must be proportionate to legitimate business needs and the parties have to evaluate whether less intrusive means are available".

"Monitoring should be based on the premise that the work environment is based on mutual trust and respect. Workers should be informed about how much data is collected, its storage, and – most importantly – the purposes for which the data may be used based on the Data Protection Act," he noted.

He also added that "Digital monitoring should not generate discipline unless egregious or illegal conduct is involved. Workers must get the training and skills they need to remain employed and develop in the job, digital literacy involves developing the skills and competencies to use digital technologies effectively and creatively".

Speaking on the pension scheme, the regional industrial relations officer bemoaned how some retired practitioners still go through a struggle to get retirement benefits and the government's inability to pay regularly.

"It must be noted that the Union continues to follow up on members’ retirement benefits and has realized that the government still owes the Health Sector Occupational Pensions Scheme for some months. This is affecting members’ retirement lump sum. Hence, we call on the government to refund the outstanding contributions to enable the hardworking members to enjoy their retirement", he said.