The National Labour Commission (NLC) wants the health services workers to call off their strike.

This comes as the Health Services Workers’ Union embarks on industrial action in protest of what they describe as unfavourable conditions of service.

The members, spanning over 40,000, comprise lab technicians, record personnel, orderlies, among others.

An earlier meeting with the government to get the union to discontinue its strike proved futile.

Executive Secretary of the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah, said they were unaware of the workers’ decision before the protest.

“They didn’t inform us of their action, but we heard on the radio, and we quickly contacted the Ministry about it,” he told Accra-based Citi FM.

The NLC urged that the Union’s leadership appears before them for negotiations over the concerns raised.

“We have directed them to call off the strike and appear before the commission to settle the matter… they said they have also heard about it, so negotiations are ongoing, and we’ve asked them to call off the strike and appear before us,” Mr Asamoah added on Thursday, October 28.

Meanwhile, the industrial action is taking a toll on healthcare delivery across the country.

In the Ashanti Region, Out-Patient Departments of some health facilities are empty with no one to attend to patients.

Hundreds of patients have been left stranded as the clinics and hospitals have turned into ‘ghost towns’.