Mortuary workers to strike on October 1

The Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana has announced its intention to lay down their tools on Thursday, October 1, 2020, to demand better working conditions.

According to the group, the strike is to register their displeasure over what they described as the government’s seeming reluctance in addressing their grievances.

In a statement, the General Secretary of the group, Richard Kofi Jordan said: “members of MOWAG have had to work in intolerable conditions including constantly inhaling dangerous and cancer-causing chemical, formaldehyde”.

“Having become tired of its inactions and being aware that the government appears to be nowhere near taking a serious look at the grievances of the MOWAG, pursuant to resolving same problems, the MOWAG, under article 159 of the Labour Law (Act 651) has now initiated this industrial strike action till its demands are met.”

In 2019, the group embarked on a similar protest over poor working conditions.

Dead bodies were left unattended to leaving families frustrated at the various mortuaries across the country.

Families who also had their relatives in the mortuaries were unable to pick them up to prepare for burial.

Despite earlier assurances from the Ministry of Health to resolve their grievances, the mortuary workers say that promise is yet to be fulfilled.

In their statement, the group said some of their issues included “unresolved issues of salaries, allowances, job placement, and promotions (conditions of service).

Other unresolved issues include “non-provision of personal protective equipment to guarantee safety against the pandemic and other diseases that are confronted on a daily basis at the mortuaries despite all the assurances from the government”.