The Health Sector Workers Union (HSWU) has called on the government to expedite action on negotiations on employees’ conditions of service.
According to its General Secretary, Franklin Owusu Ansah, the delay in concluding negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement for workers was in a bad taste for optimum output within the health sector.
“My union submitted our proposals in November last year and up till now, we have met the employer about five times but still not concluded the negotiations.
“When negotiations delay, people think that we are not doing much for them, and for that matter, they are not happy with the union and with the employer, so my call to the government is that they should call us to the negotiation table and make sure we conclude what we have started so many months ago before anything untoward happens,” he urged.
The General Secretary made the call at the climax of the 80th anniversary commemoration of the HSWU in Accra yesterday on the theme; ‘Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC): The Role of the Health Worker.”
Convening members across government health institutions, public, private and mission hospitals, the emergency services and health training organisations, the commemoration was to reflect on the eight-decade journey of the Union, highlighting it’s challenges, achievement and way forward.
Mr Ansah outlined some achievements by the Union over the years, including negotiating for improved remuneration and other conditions of service for members, welfare scheme benefits, ensuring harmonious working relationship between employers and employees, provision of legal services for members against unfair labour practices, acquisition of lands for members and recently, the establishment of the HSWU Fund.
The fund, he explained, was to provide an enhanced supplementary retirement benefit, offer support for terminal illnesses, concessionary loans, and mortgage packages, among other needs of members.
“The fund also entails an exit clause and we urge all members who have issues and concerns with deductions so far to be calm as we address them,” he urged.
The Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource Training and Development of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Mr Lawrence Odartey Lawson, said the Ministry was committed to implementing strategies towards UHC by 2023 in order to provide timely access to high quality health services irrespective of ability to pay at point of use.
In view of that, he noted that the MOH was developing several policies, interventions and expanding health infrastructure projects across the country to ensure that the right to health for all persons were guaranteed.
Mr Lawson indicated that health worker productivity was a critical determinant to attaining the UHC, pledging to lead efforts at ensuring employees worked under the right conditions of service.
Mr Joshua Ansah, the newly elected Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), called on the government to increase investment in the health sector to build a resilient system that can withstand shocks and continue to provide essential services to the populace.
“Achieving UHC is a collective responsibility. Health workers are at the heart of this mission and their role is indispensable and by investing in our health workforce, improving working conditions and involving them in policy making, we can make significant strides towards UHC,” he said.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH