Nurses and midwives join calls for a 20 per cent Cost of Living Allowance
Another specialized labour front, the Union of Professional Nurse and Midwives has joined calls by some public sector workers to the government to grant them a 20% cost of living allowance (COLA).
The allowance, they argue, is to help alleviate the harsh economic situation in the country.
According to the press statement issued on Tuesday, the health workers said they associate themselves with the ongoing industrial action jointly declared by Tertiary Education Workers’ Union (TEWU), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union over the COLA.
The union argued that the government appears to be dragging its feet about ensuring their welfare.
“In 2014, a cost of living allowances (COLA) of 10% of Public Sector Workers Basic salary was paid to workers to cushion us when things got tough due to high cost of living. In 2022, we find ourselves in a similar economic situation, and we expected nothing short of a similar stop-gap measure to cushion the many nurses and midwives in the country,” the statement said.
While appealing to the government to immediately turn attention to health workers and pay them the 20% COLA, UPNMG said it wants the government to urgently take a look at the working conditions of nurses and midwives.
“We have thus taken it upon ourselves as the second-largest union within the nursing and midwifery profession to appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency take a critical look at the matter. The earlier we begin to think about relooking at the conditions in which nurses and midwives work in Ghana, the better it will be for our health system as nurses and midwives play a major role in the health delivery system,” they added.
