Labour Commission to meet striking doctors

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has indicated it will meet striking doctors on Wednesday April 10 to persuade them to call off the strike.

The Commission has indicated it is saddened by the strike action and what is clearly a disregard for its rulings on the matter.

The Commission last week ruled that the doctors accept a road map for the payment of their market premium arrears, but the doctors have brushed aside the ruling and gone ahead with the strike.

The Chairman of the National Labour Commission, Mr Joseph Ayittey, has refuted claims the Commission is becoming powerless and ineffective in enforcing its rulings.

Speaking on radio XYZ Monday, Mr. Ayittey explained that the doctors proposed they will agree to the payments in instalment of their market premiums only if it starts from end of April because they had waited too long.

He said the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) also counter-proposed payment of the doctors' market premium to start on a different date in May, because the Controller and Accountants General Department cannot start payment from April ending.

“This is not acceptable to the doctors, and that is why they have gone into this (strike action),” he said.

He stated that by the doctors' actions, they have ignored the ruling of the Labour Commission for payment to start from May.

According to him, there is the need to call the two parties together again to try to find the way forward.

He was sure a meeting with striking doctors and the FWSC will come on this Wednesday to find a lasting solution to the ongoing strike.