Lab scientists at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi have defied a court order directing them to end their strike action and resume work.
All labs at the hospital remained locked despite the court injunction secured by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on Friday for them to go back to work
PRO for the hospital, Kwame Frimpong, confirming the development said: "They are still not back to the office but I'm unable to make any official comment on it because management will soon meet. Currently, we are sending our samples to public and private labs as a way to mitigate the impact of the strike."
But the Executive Secretary for the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah, said the Commission is yet to receive an official statement from the region about the decision by the agitating lab scientists not to resume work.
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He explained that if it turns out to be true, sanctions will be applied against the lab scientists.
"In any case, if it is true that they have refused to go to work the consequences are clearly stated in the law so that will be the way forward. The first one is with their employer to either terminate their employment without notice or to withhold their salaries for the period they have refused to work.
"The third is that the commission can apply to the court to cite them for contempt."
Background
The NLC secured an ex-parte injunction against the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) for proceeding on strike without due process.
The injunction cited the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital chapter of the Association.
The injunction was filed on Friday, May 28 at the Accra High Court.
After the Court heard the counsel for the NLC led by Effiba Amihere, it ordered that the KATH Chapter of GAMLS “whether by itself, its executives, officers, members, agents, servants, employees or other persons are restrained from proceeding with its intended illegal strike action and to comply with the procedure provided under the Labour Act for resolving their dispute with their employerâ€.
The KATH Chapter of GAMLS embarked on a sit-down strike on Thursday, May 20 to register members’ disagreement with authorities for posting two physicians to the Haematology or Laboratory Department of the Hospital.
Exactly a week after that strike, the national executives in solidarity declared a nationwide indefinite strike.
But NLC has declared the strike illegal, the reason it proceeded to court.