The National Council of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has served its members with a notice of an impending industrial strike action.

The Council explained that the strike action is part of a series of activities aimed at drumming home the demand for a review of the 445.5% increment in the license verification fee imposed on nurses and midwives.

Nurses and midwives were therefore obligated to pay GHȼ3,000.00 to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana for the verification of licenses, a development the Association was unhappy about.

A communique signed by the President of the GRNMA, Mrs. Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, and copied to Myjoyonline.com instructed members of the association at all health facilities to wear red bands
between 22nd to 27th March, 2024.

It also indicated that a major press conference would be held on 27th March 2024 to engage the media on the subject matter and other related issues.

This would be followed by an indefinite strike action with the withdrawal of services at the outpatient departments of health facilities across the country from the 28th of March to the 2nd of April 2024.

Service would subsequently be withdrawn at in-patient departments on the 3rd of April 2024 if nothing is done about the demand of the Association.

“These actions have become necessary because, although the GRNMA officially communicated its
discontentment about the 445.5% increment in the Verification Fee and request for a review of the amount to an acceptable level more than a week ago, the institutions involved which are the Parliament of Ghana, the Ministry of Health, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council are yet to even acknowledge receipt of our letters and to make any effort towards having the GHȼ3,000.00 reviewed”, Mrs. Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo stated.

She, therefore, directed all nurses and midwives to adhere to the communique and not succumb to any form of intimidation or threats.

She opined that a 25% increment in the license verification fee was fair and could be afforded by members.

“We wish to reiterate that, considering the current economic challenges and the fact that our salaries are not the best, nurses and midwives of Ghana can only contain a maximum of 25% increment which in our view can be borne by all grades of nurses and midwives”, she concluded.