If the long-standing concerns of its members are not resolved, the Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana (MOWAG) has threatened to go on strike nationwide in November.
The organization, which speaks for mortuary employees nationwide, is demanding immediate changes to their working circumstances, such as increased pay, a safer workplace, and the supply of necessary personal protective equipment (PPE).
The group claims that these problems have existed since 2019 and that the government has done little to address them.
In a Citi News interview monitored by Ghanatodayonline.com, Richard Kofi Jordan, the General Secretary of MOWAG, conveyed the organization’s dissatisfaction with how the government has been responding to their demands.
He said the government was purposefully slowing down the process by asking the association for extraneous information, which he believes is meant to postpone talks and avoid addressing the workers’ main issues.
The mortuary employees continue to work in appalling conditions that endanger their health and safety, Jordan noted, despite several attempts over the past few years to dialogue with the administration on these matters.
He emphasized that because the government has not responded to their demands, MOWAG members are forced to think about using industrial action as a way to get the government to take their demands seriously.
“We cannot strike in the middle of the month. So we are planning towards another week. It could be the end of this month, it could be the first week of next month [November], whichever it is, we will communicate the same to the public and then you understand.
“As I speak to you, the government has demanded certain data from us and we feel that it is a way to delay the process. They demanded certain data from us, which we are providing. But that is not enough for us to say that we are not going to embark on our strike. We will surely strike if what we are asking for is not met within this month.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com