Nurses and Midwives Mad At GRNMA Over ‘Unconsented Deductions’

A group of nurses and midwives have hit hard at the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) over what they describe as unconsented deductions.

According to them, the new executives of Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) have turned a blind eye to their plead over the period.

In a statement signed by Convener of the group, Mr Samuel Piue Lasir and forwarded to The New Publisher, the aggrieved nurses and midwives cited nonpayment of monies owed them by the GRNMA as the reason for their fury.

“These new executives since they took over office have done nothing but to cause chaos among the rank and file of the profession,” sections of the statement reads.

“…members contributed 2% of their salary, GHS20.00 as building levy and GHS50.00 as Nurses fund which is managed by Axis Pensions. The understanding is that all contributors will be given their money upon retirement or exit from the union.”

The nurses and midwives warned that they are giving “the GRNMA and Axis Pensions five working days to pay us our money or face the wrath of members.”

Mr Lasir explained that the deductions comprised two per cent of the staff’s salary as dues, GH₵20 as building levy and GH₵50 as contribution towards the nurse’s fund, which served as the tier-three for the members of the association, adding that a staff could lose about GH₵120 of their salary every month to such deductions.

Mr Lasir said such compulsory illegal deductions had left some affected nurses with negative net income and expressed that he did not understand why “an association that was intended to protect the rights and welfare of its members would resort to such dubious means to rob them of their salaries without due recourse to their survival”.

The leader of the concerned group, therefore, appealed to the GNRMA to revoke the automatic membership policy which was an affront to the association’s own operating framework, and also halt the deductions of dues from the members, so that they could freely join other professional groups related to their field.

Mr Lasir also requested of the association to explain the component of the Tier- three contribution which has been tagged as ‘Nurses’ Fund,’ to its members.

For her part, an affected nurse at the Billaw Health Centre at the Lambussie District, Ms Catherine Zile, complained that she left the system without her knowledge and was reinstated by the association, adding that “the month I was reinstated, the arrears were taken from my salary and since my salary was not enough, I was left with a negative net income. That means I am still owing them and it will be taken from my next month’s salary.”

She chastised the association for neglecting the welfare of its members and said they were only interested in squeezing money out of them.