Casual workers in various public hospitals throughout Ghana are calling on the John Mahama led government to come to their rescue as all attempts to get mechanized have so far failed.
The casual workers who have coalesced into a group known as the Concerned Unmechanized Government Health Casual Workers tell rawgist.com they have been seeking to get regularized after several years of service but to no avail.
“Some of us have been working for 18-20 years but still take home remunerations ranging between ₵155.00 to ₵185.00”, the coordinator of the group, Yaw Asare told rawgist.com in an interview, adding that they pay their SSNIT contributions from the same amount.
“We have tried several times to get the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health to hear our cries but they are just not listening. Some of us are old and have families to take care of. How do we continue to live like this?”
They believe the government is breaking the labour law by not mechanizing them as the labour law states that “A temporary worker who is employed by the same employer for a continuous period of six months and more shall be treated under this Part as a permanent worker.”
Members of the group who are at their wits end say they have been in contact with various authorities including two former health ministers Ms. Sherry Ayittey and Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah. “We currently have a petition which has been with the Minister of Employment and Labour relations, Haruna Iddrisu since February this year. He referred us to the Chief labour officer who until now claims he is trying to find out why we have not been mechanized all this while”, the coordinator told rawgist.com.
They want government to take a critical look at their plight and mechanize them.
