We Also Want COLA; UPNMG Joins Teacher Unions In Fighting For COLA

Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG) has joined the four major teacher unions, Ghana National Association Of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT-G), and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) in fighting for the 20% Cost of Living Allowance from the government.

Speaking on Opemsuo Radio morning show with Agudey, the National Communication Team member of UPNMG, Mr. Isaac Obiri said, the union also deserves its fair share of the Cost-Of-Living-Allowance (COLA) because of the level of inflation that has hit the country.

He indicated that “the current high cost of living in Ghana has affected nurses and midwives so hard that we find it difficult to adjust to the situation at the moment, so it is needful for the government to cushion us with the COLA to enable us to go about their duties”.

Mr. Obiri said they do not want their case to escalate to the level of taking strike action as in the case of the teachers because their work is very critical as it has got to do with human lives.

The UPNMG communications member emphasized that “the 10% Cost-Of-Living-Allowance offered to us in 2014 could no longer sustain them amid the recent economic hardships and it is against this background that we are pushing for 20%”.

He reiterated that “the union recognizes the government to be a listening one and optimistic to get their demands addressed other than that, their next line of action is yet to be conveyed in their subsequent engagement with the media”.

Source: Opemsuo.com/ Effah Mensah William.