Doctors to strike soon over market premium

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has served notice that there could be a major disruption of services in public hospitals if government implements its decision to scrap the market premium of workers.

According to the GMA, its members will not work over-time if the market premium is scrapped.

Speaking to Citi News, the Deputy General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Justice Yankson said if government scraps the market premium, it must expect less output.

“Our overtime was called a market premium but government says it is going to scrap it and what we are telling government is that, you either find a means to pay us our overtime or we will work 40 hours as the labour has paid because that is what the fair wages is based on in terms of payment for all workers in the country is based on 40 hours so we will also work 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Beyond that period, the doctors are not going to work again.”

He further noted that government should take immediate steps to address the problem or face their wrath.

“If you are not going to pay me for the extra hours, 200 extra hours a month and sometimes beyond because Doctors who find themselves in district hospitals where we usually call them as one man station because he is the only man there, he works seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day and if you are not ready to pay for the extra hours, sometimes for 400 or 500 extra hours, we will also work for only 40 hours.”

By: Marian Efe Ansah

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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