Damongo health workers demand written commitment before ending strike

The nurses on strike at the West Gonja Hospital in the Savannah Region are ready to call off their sit-down strike if management commits to addressing their grievances in writing.

The group declared a sit-down strike last Monday over an allowance dispute.

The nurses are proposing that 10 percent of their basic salary be paid to them as monthly allowances.

The chairman for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association at the hospital, Abdul Karim Issah told Citi News that management of the health facility has shown good faith in meeting their demands since the strike started.

The conditions we wanted them to at least address before we go back to work, they promised to do it but it is not yet in a written document and those documents are those we are waiting for. So if those conditions are met, we will go back to work.

In addition to the allowance demands, the striking nurses also demanded the removal of the administrator and the matron of the hospital.

“The stakeholders have promised that those individuals will step down for now so God willing if the documents are given us, we will call off the strike,” Mr. Issah said.

They striking nurses had also complained about the reasons for the denial of study leaves by the management of the hospital.

Despite the strike, the nurses, who are members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) and Health Services Workers Union (HSWU), have however assured that they would continue to attend to maternal and child health cases as well as emergencies.

The Damongo Government Hospital, is the major health facility in the Savannah Regional capital, serving as a referral facility for a number of districts in the newly created region.