JUSSAG begins nationwide strike
Activities at the law courts in the country are set to grind to a halt from today following the declaration of a nationwide strike by the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG).
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According to the association, the strike, which takes effect from today, was as a result of the government’s delay in implementing the consolidation of the salaries and allowances of staff of the Judicial Service as recommended by the Judicial Council.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the President of JUSSAG, Mr Alex Nartey, said all attempts by the association to get the government to pay the approved salaries had yielded no fruits.
In view of that, he said, staff of the service would only go back to work when the government implemented the decision of the Judicial Council.
“Our decision is not to destroy but build a strong Judiciary for Ghanaians,” he said.
Approved salaries
According to him, in 2012 the Judicial Council, after reviewing the conditions of service of staff of the Judicial Service, concluded in 2015 that the allowances and salaries of the staff should be consolidated into one salary.
He said the previous system where most of the allowances were paid on a quarterly basis was not the best because “the allowances are never paid on time”.
“After a painstaking period of consideration, the Judicial Council forwarded the approved salaries in June 2015 to the government for implementation. However, after 10 months, the government is yet to implement the approved salaries.
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“After a long wait and painful silence, the association was forced to issue an ultimatum on 2nd March, 2016, demanding the implementation of the salaries. The government has still not addressed our concern,” he said.
Committee
Mr Nartey explained that the government, instead of implementing the recommendation of the Judicial Council, as stipulated in Article 149 of the 1992 Constitution, wrote a letter to the Judicial Council on March 16 about its intention to set up a committee to review the approved salaries as recommended by the council.
“The said letter flouts the tenets of the 1992 Constitution, it’s a disdain to the Judicial Council and an affront to administrative procedure. Any attempt by the government to resort to a body outside the Judicial Council, therefore, sins against the provisions of the 1992 Constitution#,’’ he added.
Security personnel
Mr Nartey, however, announced that security personnel of the service were not part of the strike and would remain at post.
That, he explained, was to protect the properties of the service during the strike.