Labour expert Austin Gamey has weighed in on the ongoing strike by has weighed in the stalemate between the government and the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).

In an interview with Joy FM on Wednesday, June 11, Austin Gamey noted that the government cannot be pressured to meet the Association's demands when it cannot.

"I will plead with both parties, the union within the nursing fraternity, they know that they have to go back to work. Let them go to the table and have a conversation about any plan that is worth implementing. You can't force the employer to pay you when they cannot afford to pay. You cannot do that, you cannot force a horse to the riverside to drink water.

He called for a constructive dialogue between the two parties, adding, "Patience is required, and I think that this is a matter that can be resolved easily, but the way they are going about it is what is creating the problem".

Members of GRNMA on June 2 withdrew from their posts over delays in their 2024 Collective Agreement. In response, the National Labour Commission (NLC) filed an ex parte application on Thursday, June 5.

However, Health Minister Mintah Akandoh on Tuesday, June 10, revealed that the government will not be able to meet the conditions of service for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), currently on strike, this year.

Engaging the press the sector minister announced that the conditions of service being requested to be implemented were not captured in the 2025 budget statement; hence, it will "completely throw the economy off gear if implemented in the manner it currently exists."

"We are mindful of the serious economic consequences of unbudgeted expenditure and want to avoid the economic slippages that have led to the hardship in the recent past," the Health Minister revealed.

On the matter, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, revealed that fully meeting the nurses' current demands would add "in excess of GH¢2 billion" to the national compensation budget.

"We have all committed that in our resolve to reset the economy of this country, we must maintain a 1.5% primary balance surplus every year in order to bring our debt levels to sustainable levels," he added.

Mintah Akandoh, however, assured of the government's readiness to further engage with the GRNMA to implement the conditions of service in a manner that does not dislocate the national budget.

"Government commits to continue to engage with the nurses to achieve a mutually acceptable outcome in the interest of the public," he said.

This news was broken to the GRNMA at a closed-door meeting on Monday, June 9, and the association's vice president, Samuel Alagkora Akologo, expressed his displeasure. He noted that such a proposal is unfair, as it will rob the striking nurses of what was due them.

“And what they wanted us to agree on was to push the implementation to 2026. What it means is that they wanted to set the conditions of the service calendar so that it will be like we have just renegotiated, and then we are moving on, so that the idea of arrears will not come in. This is not fair,” he said.

A 10-day injunction has been placed on the nationwide strike after the Industrial and Labour Division of the High Court in Accra described the protest as illegal.

Meanwhile, the GRNMA has disclosed that it is yet to formally receive a court order restraining its ongoing strike. Public Relations Officer of the GRNMA, Joseph Krampah, has insisted that the group will continue its strike until an official injunction notice is served.

According to him, although the association is a law-abiding group, it cannot obey unofficial reports.

“They think that they should serve us a letter; we can’t prevent them, but what constitutes an illegal strike? When in Ghana has the Labour Commission said that this strike is legal? It is only illegal when they don’t inform your office about the intended strike, and we did—you had the letter,” Krampah said.

He added: “If you are declaring it as illegal or whatever and you are bringing an injunction, that is your job to do, and we respect the court and the NLC very much. We are law-abiding people. But just that things that we have not seen, we cannot act on them. I am saying that we haven’t received any letter. None of the executives have been served any letter about that. So till we know that, aluta continua.”