The Emergency Medical Technicians Association of Ghana (EMTAG) of which the National Ambulance Service is a part, is striking today, Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
The industrial action follows a directive from its mother body, Health Services Workers Union (HSWU), to all member associations to lay down their tools in protest against the government’s, “unfair treatment”.
The HSWU, noted that they have been engaging government since 2019 to negotiate on their conditions of service but have failed to meet their demands.
They requested among other things, extra health risk allowance, uniform and clothing allowance, accommodation allowance, fuel allowance, book and research allowance and CPD allowance.
The Union gave the government up to October 20, 2021 to conclude on negotiations with the body, failure to which they will take necessary steps to drum home their demands.
On Monday, October 25, 2021, the HSWU directed its member associations and workers to lay down their tools since the government has been unresponsive to their needs and has pushed them to the limit.
It urged the members to stay “resolute, fearless, focused and united to fight until all the union’s demands are met”.
The EMTAG, being a subsidiary of the HSWU, indicated its resolve to act in consonance with what the mother body decides for the collective good of its members.
It said in a statement: “We are by this communique informing our members that, the emergency meeting held came out with a road map as to the way forward in the event government fails to conclude on the negotiation with the union by the 20th of October 2021.
“By so doing, we have agreed that if nothing substantive happens by the date mentioned above, all our members will join its counterparts to wear red bands to work from 21st – 22nd October 2021 and thereafter we will advise ourselves base on what the union agrees upon” the statement signed by the General Secretary of EMTAG, Abdul-Mumin A. Muktadir added.
Read EMTAG’s full statement below:
