Takoradi, Sept. 14, GNA - Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Health, has said that at such a time when the nation was striving to advance in development, what it does not need is industrial disharmony. He said there was no doubt industrial actions in developing countries had retarded growth and progress, hence they are not the best approaches to resolving disputes. Dialogue is always the best way. The Minister made the call in a speech read on his behalf by the Western Regional Director of Health Services, Dr (Mrs) Linda Vanotoo at the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU) held in Takoradi on Monday. It was held on the theme: "Unionization of the health worker, the pre-requisite to quality health care delivery and better conditions of service".

The union was first formed by a few health workers at former European hospital in Takoradi 45 years ago. In the health sector, the Minister noted that strike actions were more serious because most of the damages could not be described in economic terms as the repercussions were usually felt by innocent people, who might not have the power to address the issues at stake. He said the net social benefit of strike actions is lower than the net cost, therefore governments, private employers and unions must strive to put in every effort to forestall such situations.

For this reason, he stated that the Labour Act places a lot of emphasis on the need for such conflicts to be solved and provides opportunities for that, therefore, it must be respected and applied. Dr Kunbuor said those in the health sector providing critical services were supposed to respect the Act and reminded them of their responsibilities to secure the health of the populace and the entire nation for sustained economic growth.

The Health Minister charged the leadership of the HSWU to come out with a clear programme to sensitize the entire workforce about the provisions of the Labour Act to enable them act appropriately. Mr Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called on the leadership of the HSWU to establish rapport between the union and management to avoid mistrust in order to enhance productivity.

He called for unionism among the entire health workers so that they could forge ahead with a common purpose to champion their course. The General Secretary of the HSWU, Mr Abu D. Kuntulo appealed to colleagues in the sector to have a sense of good human relations towards their patients. Mr Kuntulo said emerging diseases such as HINI, H5NI viruses and SARS should pose a challenge to health workers to observe strict environmental neatness to ensure the safety of patients to prevent epidemics. 14 Sept. 10