Dr. Opoku Adusei
The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has bemoaned the fact that doctors in the public sector continue to suffer from reduced pensions due to the unwillingness on the part of the government to pay conversion difference owed doctors since January, 2010.
Following the recent partial withdrawal of services by doctors in the public sector, the National Labour Commission (NLC) directed the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to restore the conversion difference of members of the GMA.
The NLC also called on the members of the GMA to call off their strike and resume work. It also directed that the payment schedule of the conversion difference proposed by GMA if not acceptable to the FWSC, the parties should negotiate and agree on an acceptance schedule.
Though the GMA has abided by the directive of the NLC and has restored its services fully, the FWSC has blatantly refused to abide by their side of the directive.
These were contained in a statement issued at the end of the 3rd National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the GMA for the year 2013 at Takoradi.
Addressing the press in Takoradi yesterday about some of the concerns raised at the meeting, Dr Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, president of the GMA indicated that the association was aware the case was before the high court.
He therefore appealed to the general public to push the necessary pressure on the FWSC to change their current stance which was contrary to the directive of the NLC.
“This will ensure that our statutory bodies as provided by the labour laws are respected by both governments and labour unions to forestall the premature collapse of institutions such as the NLC”, he indicated.
Dr Opoku-Adusei appealed to the court to expeditiously deal with the matter of conversion difference to safeguard the pensions of doctors and to ensure that GMA members had the right frame of mind to pursue their core duties of taking care of patients in health institutions.
According to the president of the GMA, the NEC at the meeting criticized the Daily Graphic newspaper for a publication it carried on the recommendation of the Public Sector Joint Standing Negotiation Committee (PSJSNC) in the Wednesday May 22, 2013 edition of the state-owned media.
In the said publication, Daily Graphic reported that the post migration implementation committee of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) had recommended the refund of the conversion difference deducted from the salaries of doctors.
The paper continued that a letter from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning(MFEP) dated January 30, 2012 directed the Controller and Accountants General Department(CAGD) to suspend the recovery of the conversion difference paid to non-eligible public sector health workers during their migration unto the SSSS until further notice.
However, the NEC of the GMA described the reportage as put in the Daily Graphic as erroneous, mischievous and in bad faith as it did not truly reflect the position of the PSJSNC on the issues of reduced pensions of doctors.
“The NLC was aware of the report of the sub-committee of the FWSC before giving their directive that the conversion difference to doctors should be restored. The directive of the NLC overrides the report of the technical sub-committee of the FWSC”, Dr Opoku-Adusei noted.
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