The Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG), has expressed serious concerns regarding the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association’s (GRNMA) unilateral negotiation and signing of the 2024 Conditions of Service (COS) for nurses and midwives.
In a statement dated May 22, the UPNMG criticized the lack of proper consultation with other unions within the nursing and midwifery fraternity, leaving key stakeholders uninformed about the details of the new agreement.
The UPNMG explained, “On January 17, 2023, the GRNMA invited the UPNMG and other union leaders to present proposals on the COS for submission to the government. The UPNMG leadership complied, contributing significantly to the proposed COS with the hope of improving the welfare and socio-economic conditions of Ghanaian nurses and midwives. This initial engagement, the first since our emergence, was a promising step towards collaboration. However, communication from the GRNMA stopped after UPNMG received the harmonized copy of the proposed COS. Repeated attempts to get updates from GRNMA were unsuccessful.”
The UPNMG leadership noted that it is not privy to the contents of the 2024 COS, which raises significant concerns about the GRNMA’s approach. The leadership is therefore calling on the GRNMA to immediately disclose the contents of the signed 2024 COS to all relevant unions, including the UPNMG.
“We insist that all future negotiations involve every union within the nursing and midwifery profession, as mandated by regulation 10 in L.I. 1833. We have also notified our lawyers to petition the Chief Labour Officer in respect of the GRNMA’s unilateral negotiation in breach of the labour act and labour regulations,” the statement added.
The UPNMG has therefore threatened to demonstrate their dissatisfaction if the newly signed COS fails to genuinely benefit all ranks of nurses and midwives.
Click here for UPNMG Press Statement-COS 2024
