Postpone all funerals because we won’t release bodies – Mortuary workers to bereaved families

Bereaved families who are unable to secure the dead bodies of the relations for burial on Saturday are currently contemplating on postponing the funerals until such a time striking mortuary workers call off their action.

Public mortuaries attached to health facilities in the country since Tuesday have refused to accept or release more dead bodies in protest of their poor working conditions urging stranded bereaved families to postpone their funerals.

Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana (MOWAG) on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, embarked on strike to demand better conditions of service from government and its allied agencies.

Since the association embarked on a strike, scores of bereaved families have been stranded at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) morgue and other public mortuary facilities across the country following the strike action of the association according to MyNewsGh.com’s checks.

General Secretary of mortuary workers Union Richard Kofi Jordan speaking to MyNewsGh.com appealed to bereaved families to postpone their funerals and wait till the association resumes from their strike actions.

Alternatively, he asked the affected bereaved families to storm the Ministry of Health for their cost after postponement of their funerals since the Ministry is solely responsible for what has befallen them.

“We are very serious about our strike action. We are not going to work anytime soon since government not ready to address our concerns. We are not receiving dead bodies and we will not give out dead bodies. Bereaved families should stop going to our various morgue because they are wasting their time. Our strike is an indefinite strike. We will go back to work only if the government addresses our concerns. Bereaved families should rather postpone their funerals” he said.

He also advised that the families either go ahead to do their funerals without the burial of their dead bodies or postpone the whole rituals indefinitely.

“Those who can’t postpone their funerals can do their funerals and bury their dead bodies when we resume from our strikes” he added.