The Members of the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers Union (MELPWU) have raised serious concerns regarding the treatment of their colleagues nationwide amidst their ongoing strike.
According to Dr. Cephas Akotor, the General Secretary of the Union, many members have faced significant intimidation from hospital administrators during the strike period.
Dr. Akotor said some members of the union have been receiving threats for simply rising up to the occasion and demanding better conditions of service.
He explained that the union’s strike is a protest against the substandard working conditions that medical laboratory professionals are forced to endure.
In a passionate appeal, Dr. Akotor called for an immediate cessation of these intimidating practices. He emphasised the importance of hospital directors, human resources personnel, and administrators adopting a supportive rather than adversarial stance.
“I want to use the opportunity to also talk to our directors, HRs and administrators at the various hospitals that we work with, and we are their employees. If we have difficulties, they should be speaking for us, not [when] we go on the rampage before they know we have concerns.
“The intimidation happening in the various hospitals should stop. People are threatening that they will not validate people’s salaries, taking people’s positions from them as heads of departments, asking our members to vacate their accommodations and all that. I think that we haven’t gotten to that stage.”
