The General Secretary of the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers’ Union (MELPWU), Dr Cephas Akortor, has called on the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to hurriedly resolve their concerns and bring an amicable end to their strike.

According to him, this is because members of the Union are unhappy they were asked to resume work when many of their redemands including conditions of services have not been addressed.

Speaking on The Probe on JoyNews, Dr Akortor said that the “Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is the only institution that can bring an end to this. Our members nearly lynched us when we (union leaders) got back to them that we wanted to call off the strike.”

“The strike wasn't declared by us (leaders) and so they said we have no right but we are their leaders. So if Fair Wages can give us something tangible by engaging us for us to bring finality to the negotiations, I believe there will be no issue of strike. People are not really happy. In fact, we are just trying our best to control the situation,” he noted.

However, Dr Akortor fears that the longer the delay in reaching a final decision the angrier MELPWU members get and this could bring about another strike action by the laboratory professionals.

He indicated that because of the delay in reaching an agreement for months, many of the members have lost faith in the leaders.

Dr Akortor noted that this is especially troubling for the leadership since their demands centre around their conditions of service.

• Read also: Striking MELPWU members demand better conditions, decry intimidation

“We as a union are also part of this country anything that goes well, it goes in our interest, if it goes bad we are also in it. So, we have not taken an entrenched position, we are willing to support the employer.

"But come and let us negotiate, when you are coming you can’t come empty-handed and say drop everything. So, at least bring what you have,” he added.

The Medical Laboratory Professional Workers' Union (MELPWU) initiated an industrial action on June 17, 2024, in response to the government's prolonged delay in addressing their conditions of service.

This action significantly disrupted health services nationwide, leaving patients at public health facilities without essential laboratory services and forcing many to seek more expensive alternatives in private facilities.

The strike is temporarily on hold following an emergency meeting held on Thursday, June 20 involving representatives from MELPWU, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Finance Ministry, and the Health Ministry, aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute.

• Read also: NLC directs Medical Laboratory workers to call off strike

But Dr Akortor explained that despite the potential for a longer strike, the union decided to "add a human face to it" and called off the action after five days.

He noted that the union understood the critical impact their absence could have on the healthcare system, emphasising that the “laboratory is the foundation of healthcare.”

• Read also: Laboratory workers have no conditions of service – MELPWU

"The role that we play starts from the beginning of life to the end of life and even beyond the grave because, in the grave, we have to tell whether you are the actual person lying there or not through DNA testing and other investigations.”