General News of Sunday, 2 September 2012

Source: GNA

Pharmacists strike on Tuesday

Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA), comprising pharmacists working in government hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities are to withdraw their services from Tuesday September 4th.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Sunday and signed by Mr Stephen Corquaye, Chairman of the Association, said pharmacists in the public sector remained the only healthcare professionals who had not been migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) following an eleven month stalemate with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWAC).

It said the Association had realized that the entire system including FWSC and health sector management, were keen on perpetrating blatant injustice and bias against them.

The statement said it was unfortunate that not even the intervention of the Minister of Health, his Deputy and the Ghana Health Service Council in finding an amicable solution had yielded any result.

It noted that since April 2012, some pharmacists were paid less than GH¢100.00 a month while all attempts to seek an end to the long impasse failed.

The statement, therefore, urged government to immediately step in to resolve the issue.

It also called on the public to bear with the hospital pharmacists, as members would not return to post unless and until they had been justly migrated unto the SSSS in line with the scores of the job evaluation and re-evaluation exercise.