Employment and Labour Minister Appeals To Doctors To Resume Work

Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Nii Armah Ashitey has called on the striking doctors to reconsider their decision and resume work. Speaking on Radio Gold�s newspaper review on Tuesday, Hon. Nii Armah Ashitey urged the doctors to exercise patience and return to their offices while they continue negotiations with the government. He said the strike by the Ghana Medical Association dents the image of the country. He further stated that most of the industrial actions embarked upon by public workers are illegal, therefore advising the doctors to corporate with government to find solutions to the deadlock. �I want to just say that our doctors and the phamarcists must reconsider their position and go back to work, whilst we continue with the negotiation,� he pleaded. He also appealed to government, employers and labour unions in the country to �work together as partners.� The Employment and Labour Relations Minister spoke ahead of the Workers� Day Celebration yesterday (Wednesday) at the Essipong Sports Stadium in the Western Region. The celebration which was under the theme �Pension, it is your right and your security� was to honour the efforts by workers across the length and breadth of the nation. Speaking in relation to the May Day celebration, he was critical of the benefits workers derive from their pensions upon retirement. He explained that �Pension is a benefit to the worker, benefit that goes to the worker when he proceeds on retirement. And in Ghana, we have three tiers of pension. We have the SSNIT pension and we have the second tier pension which is a sole contribution by the employee and it�s mandatory. And we have the third tier which is voluntary. The idea is that after you served your working life and you go on retirement, your retirement should not be a curse�, hence the need for workers to well-treated.