Health Services Union calls on Fair Wages Commission to fix market premium concerns
Mr Jerry Detse Mensah-Pah, the Western Regional Industrial Relations Officer for the Health Services workers Union of TUC Ghana, has appealed to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to rectify anomalies relating to market premium of members.
Mr Mensah-Pah said the Ministry of Finance and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission must as a matter of urgency respond to the many prompts by the Union on the wrongful calculation using the 2012 base pay.
Mr Mensah-Pah expressed these concerns during a clean-up exercise to commemorate the 2019 HSWU week at the Kwesimintsim Hospital in Takoradi.
The Industrial Relations Officer said the action was in gross disregard for the dictates of Single Spine Pay Policy adding that, “This in effect means that members of Union continue to receive premium that does not commensurate with the respective current base pay”.
Mr Mensah-Pah also called on the Ministry of Health to create a congenial working environment to promote collectivism in the pursuit of quality health care delivery by adhering to the agreement signed by the Health Services Workers Union of TUC Ghana.
He said some of the challenges that confronted the Union include the non-implementation of signed collective agreements by government; freezing of market premium to 2012 basic salaries.
The rest are: non implementation of Laboratory Policies, unfair placement of some members on the Single Spine Salary Structure, and the wrongful computation of SSNIT Pensions as well as wrong annual salary and early retirement reduction factor.
The week is being celebrated under the theme: “Organising for Better Pensions from 2020 and Beyond; a Time to Make a Difference”.
It would be used to highlight the concerns of health workers, Pensions, Health Financing, Migration, Salaries, Allowances and also Universal Health Coverage as well as Elderly care issues and increase in SSNIT lump sum by 31 per cent.
The IRO said the HSWU has over the period achieved some feats such as: increased branch shares, facilitation of the implementation of Market Premium for the additional grades for some junior staff among others.
He said the Union would continue to educate its members on the new pension law.
Source: GNA