President of the National Association of Registered Midwives (NARM), Leticia Asaba Atiah, has cited “disrespect” and procedural breaches as key reasons her association has opted out of the ongoing nationwide strike led by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).
Speaking during an interview on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, June 8, 2025, Madam Atiah said that due process was not followed before GRNMA unilaterally declared its strike action, despite an upcoming scheduled meeting with the Finance Minister on June 18 to address concerns regarding the implementation of their Collective Agreement signed in November 2024.
“We were yet to meet the Finance Minister, so we believe the process had not been exhausted. There should have been that respect. We felt sidelined,” she explained.
She noted that while four unions—GRNMA, NARM Ghana, Professional Nurses Association, and Psychiatric Nurses Association—were involved in the negotiations with the Health Ministry and Ghana Health Service, the GRNMA acted without consensus by organizing a press conference to announce their strike.
According to her, NARM Ghana and two other unions disagreed with the strike action, preferring to await the outcome of the meeting with the Finance Ministry. Nonetheless, GRNMA proceeded with its decision after citing approval from its National Executive Committee (NEC).
Leticia Atiah emphasized that NARM Ghana’s exclusion from key decisions—despite being involved in the negotiation process—was a sign of disrespect, and this fueled their decision to not support the industrial action.
“We are not against the concerns being raised, but due process was not completed, and there was no collective agreement among the unions to strike,” she said.
NARM Ghana is calling for a return to negotiations to address key issues such as PIN renewal and other conditions of service for nurses and midwives.
Meanwhile, GRNMA has already implemented phases of its industrial action which began with wearing red armbands and has now escalated to a complete withdrawal of services across the country. Over 128,000 nurses and midwives joined the strike which began officially on June 4, 2025.
However, the National Labour Commission has secured an interlocutory injunction against the strike, directing GRNMA members to return to work pending further negotiations.
