A labour relations expert, Kofi Davor has accused the Ghana Medical Association of using their strike to hold government to ransom.
He said, “it’s not only illegal but, it’s unfair. You can’t point a gun at my head while you negotiate with me, it’s not done anywhere. Our brothers and sisters in the medical profession are playing power, and it will not take us anywhere.”
Members of the GMA are on strike to demand for a formalised conditions of service.
Several appeals to get the doctors rescind their action and return to work have gone unheeded.
They say that they will only call off the strike if their concerns are addressed.
Speaking on Citi FM’s News analysis programme, The Big Issue, on Saturday, the industrial relations expert said the strike must be called off while negotiations continue.
“I think the only civilized thing to do is to go back to the table and talk. A lot of people have admonished the doctors to go back, if they go back, it gives them that opportunity to also talk to government and see if government will change its voice.”
He explained that, “nobody is saying they [doctors] don’t have a case, what we are saying is that it’s not going to take you this negotiations to deal with all the problems you have as a result of the absence of terms of conditions of employment.”
“I also get the sense that the mass of the doctors have hijacked the whole process from their leadership. I’m not saying they shouldn’t take any mandate from their general council; that’s where their power is according to their structures. So they need to go there, and they need to listen to them but you cannot go there and ask a simple question like: are you satisfied with where we are? Do we continue with the strike or we go back to the table? What do you expect them to say? If you are going to subject a very important and sensitive process to this kind of populism, we are not going to get anywhere.”
Kofi Davor also questioned the deafening silence by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on the strike.
“I still ask the question, where is the National Labour Commission in all these. They can elect themselves; the law says they can summon the parties to a compulsory arbitration. So they have the mandate, they have the capacity to summon the parties for a decision to be made. It is becoming clear that the parties are unable to deal with the matter.”
