Nurses refuses to resume work today

Angry nurses at Ghana's foremost hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has once again refused to resume work despite pleas by their representatives and the Minister of Health, Mr. Samuel Nuamah Donkor.

The nurses' strike has therefore, entered its 10th day with the Korle-Bu nurses being joined by colleagues from other government hospitals in the Greater Accra Region. Last night, after a meeting with the Minister, the representatives of the striking nurses agreed to resume work after they were apparently convinced that the 50 per cent overtime hike they were expecting was based on "misinformation."

At an emergency meeting held at the hospital's premises, Mr. Logosu Amegashie, spokesman for the nurses and other executive officers, pleaded with them to resume work while negotiations continued, but they refused. The nurses said they have been "cheated for far too long. We cannot endure any more".

The nurses, who were furious, said they were not going back until the situation was remedied. Some of the nurses said they really appreciate efforts made by "the sector Minister to solve this problem, but the package is just too small".

Mr. Amegashie said there is nothing he could do again to persuade the nurses to resume work. "I have given the message to them but I cannot force them to work though I appended my signature to the letter that they will resume work today. I feel betrayed because the people I stood for are not rallying behind me after all that I went through yesterday at the ministry."

Other nurses from the districts also complained that they have been given 125 per cent of their general basic salary for January alone to cover the seven months. This means that, each nurse at the district level is to collect about 250,000 cedis for the seven months.

In another development, Mr. Amegashie alleged that nurses from the Psychiatric hospitals have threatened to release their patients onto the streets when they go back to their various hospitals. The executives are, therefore in a fix as to what step to take next after not being able to persuade the nurses to resume work.