Relatives of pipo wey die bin dey stranded on Thursday across di kontri as mortuary workers for public hospitals for Ghana begin dia strike.
For some hospital morgues, many pipo gather wey dem wan process documents to collect dia dead for funeral ova di weekend.
Na so dey don frustrate as di dey no get any mortuary worker wey dey at post di whole day.
Afta one day, leadership of di mortuary workers association bin tok say dey don suspend dia strike afta dey receive assurance from goment say dey go address dia wahala.
Di association now give goment two weeks odawise dey go re-activate dia strike.
Background
If you be pesin wey get relative for morgue for Ghana, from today 9 October, you no fit get access to di body for burial.
If you get fresh dead bodi too, you not fit find workers for di morgue wey go collect am and work on am.
Dis be sake of mortuary workers across di kontri go re-activate dia indefinite strike, if dia working conditions no improve.
Di mortuary workers association bin dey threaten to lay down dia tools since last year ova wetin dey describe as poor working conditions.
Di association say dem don write plenty letters to di health ministry and oda agencies ova dia but dey neva dey get solutions.
General secretary of di association Richard Kofi Jordan tok local media say “if somebody die from 9 October unless dia family carry dem go police station, as for di morgues, we no go dey dia to work.”
Im tok for Joynews say “even pipo wey pay for di services wey dey wan take dia bodies on Friday for burial, dey no fit get di body once we dey on strike. We no go embalm, we no go do anitin.”
In di past, di association bin threaten say dey go lay down dia tools, but dey tok say di goment dey “intervene in di last minute to promise to fix di problems”, but afta dat tok tok, dey no dey get di solutions.
Why di mortuary workers dey strike
Inside one letter wey di association write wey dey copy di ministers of health, environment, national security, as well as di national labour commission and all members wey include mortuary workers, hearse drivers and undertakers, dey tok reasons why dey no go work.
Di mortuary workers say goment and oda agencies don ignore dia demands for long time.
Dey tok say di issues bin dey include
- Say goment go provide personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Salary arrears wey goment dey owe since 2020
- Dey want financial clearance so goment go employ 500 mortuary workers
- Covid 19 bonuses wey di president don announce during di Covid outbreak
- Mortuary workers bin dey die
Di association begin dis strike sake of goment fail to address dis tins, as at di morning of 26 September.
“We neva dey expect any letter from any place wey dey tok say make we come for any meeting. Di time for meeting dey ova, wia e don reach now, na implementation, solutions be wetin we want,” di association letter wey general secretary Richard Kofi Jordan don sign.
Anoda tin di mortuary workers bin dey complain about na poor state of morgues for some public health facilities.
Wetin goment tok in 2019
In 2019, di association don threaten to strike on dis same issues.
But afta plenty meetings wit goment and di health ministry, dey decide to call of di strike.
At dat time, di parties don issue one statement wia dey tok say dey don gree say di “fair wages and salaries commission go work wit di mortuary workers association on dia salary mata, wey dey gat to take into consideration, di risks of dia job.”
Di statement also bin gree say “mortuary workers for facilities wia dey don record deaths from covid 19 cases during di pandemic, go dey part of frontline workers, na so dey qualify for di covid benefits.”
At di time, secretary of di association tok say dat na di first time dey don get positive response from di goment about dia wahala.
But four years later, di mortuary workers say goment no fulfil di promises wey im make for 2020.
Di mortuary workers no be di only pipo wey don dey strike for Ghana.
Many oda groups bin dey protest poor conditions of service across various sectors.
Dis dey happun as cost of living crisis don dey bite many pipo.
Some of di groups wey dey on strike na di senior staff association of universities of Ghana wey begin dia action on 16 September.
Di teachers and education workers union (TEWU) start dia own on 20 September, as di federation of senior staff association of Ghana (FUSSAG) also dey strike since 18 September.
Anoda group wey bin dey strike na di Ghana association of university administrators wey start dia own on 18 September.
In di coming days, university teachers’ association (UTAG) and di umbrella body of organized labour also bin serve notice to begin dia indefinite strike if goment no declare state of emergency against illegal mining.
Organized labour and oda environmental conservation groups say goment gat to “ban all forms of small-scale mining” sake of dia activities don pollute all di kontris waterbodies and destroy di forest reserves.
Sabi pesin Austin Gamey don warn goment say di plenti labour wahala for di kontri fit face “mass industrial action if goment no address di plenty issues.”
“From di way tins don dey happun, we fit to see about 20 labour unions and groups wey go dey on strike soon,” di labour analysts oga Gamey tok local media.
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