Labour and Employment Minister Dr. Rashid Pelpuo has expressed worry over the industrial action by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).

According to the minister, the leadership of the GRNMA failed to engage him before embarking on their strike action after consultations with other sector ministers.

“I had a chat with the president of the Nurses and Midwives Association, and I was complaining that they did not create the opportunity for me to have an interaction with them before the strike,” he revealed.

“We are more than shocked. We are disturbed. We are worried,” the Wa Central MP said in response to the ongoing nationwide strike on Monday night, June 9, 2025, during an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express.

According to him, early dialogue could have averted the crisis.

“I informed her that I wish we had had some conversation after she had had those kinds of conversations with other sector ministers or other stakeholders,” he added.

He assured the public of the government's commitment to stabilise the economy and improving labor relations, calling on the public sector workers to lend their support.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure we have a stable economy, a stable society. We work with workers to get their full support for how we can run this country.”

Despite the strike being in full swing, Dr. Pelpuo said the government is still open to dialogue.

“We’re still ready to talk,” he said, though he expressed frustration at being sidelined ahead of the strike.

His remarks come after a failed emergency meeting between the Ministry of Health and the GRNMA on Monday, where the government asked for an extension to effect the nurses' new working conditions until 2026, a proposal that was strongly objected to by the GRNMA.

Meanwhile, the GRNMA insists that the government’s attempt to defer their agreed conditions of service is unacceptable.

Following the emergency meeting with the Health Ministry, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) disclosed that the government has made no provisions for its members in the 2025 budget.

This information was made known by the GRNMA Vice President Samuel Alagkora Akologo.