JUSSAG strike cripples courts but action called off
The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG) called off its nationwide strike yesterday after receiving assurances from the government that the process for the consolidation of its members’ salaries and allowances would start next Monday.
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Earlier in the day, the strike by JUSSAG had virtually paralysed the judicial system, as almost all courtrooms were closed to the public.
Many people who thronged the law courts to seek justice, therefore, left disappointed.
The General Secretary of JUSSAG, Mr Derrick Annan, who confirmed the decision of the association to call off the strike in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, in a meeting with the association “assured us that the implementation process of our newly approved consolidated salaries by the Judicial Council will start on Monday”.
According to him, the government had written to the association that there was going to be a meeting by all the relevant stakeholders to begin the consolidation of the salaries and allowances of its members but the association had not received the letter.
“We have now been informed that the table is now set for all of us to sit to realise the demands of the Judicial Council,’’ he said.
The members of JUSSAG embarked on an indefinite strike earlier in the day because of what they described as government inaction in implementing the consolidation of the salaries and allowances of members of the association as determined by the Judicial Council.
It also accused the government of planning to set up a committee that would review the recommendation of the Judicial Council; a situation which the association said flouted the tenets of the 1992 Constitution.
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Mr Annan, however, explained that the government had assured the association that the said committee was not to review the recommendation of the Judicial Council, but rather, its aim was to help the President to really understand what the Judicial Council sent to him.
He said the committee, which would include members from JUSSAG and the Judicial Council, would be chaired by the Minister of Finance or his representative.
“We are, therefore, assuring the general public that on Monday, all the courts nationwide will be running,’’ he added.
Earlier in the day when the Daily Graphic visited the Supreme Court complex and the New Law Court complex in Accra, the usually busy premises were quiet.
Security personnel had been deployed at strategic locations to protect the court premises.
Some of the people who had gone to the court to seek justice expressed their frustration about the situation.
They told the Daily Graphic that justice delivery in the country was very slow and, therefore, the strike would further delay their cases in court.
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.
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.
After a long wait and painful silence, the association was forced to issue an ultimatum on March 2, 2016, demanding the consolidation of the salaries.
Last Thursday, JUSSAG decided to embark on strike from yesterday to put pressure on the government to implement the consolidation of the salaries and allowances of the Judicial Service as recommended by the Judicial Council.
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Wa
The situation was not different from what pertained in other law courts in the region.
There was no show at the three courts in Wa in the Upper West Region as staff of the Judicial Service withdrew their services in line with the directive from their national executive, reports Michael Quaye.
The Wa High, Circuit and Magistrate’s courts were without the usual early morning activity that make them special attraction to the public because of the strike.
While the High Court did not open at all, the Circuit Court – whose entrances are without doors or windows – remained quiet.
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Cape Coast
From Cape Coast, Timothy Gobah reports that as of 11 a.m. when the Daily Graphic visited the courts, the main gates had been locked, while a red piece of cloth had been tied around the huge padlocks on the doors.
Sunyani
From Sunyani, Kwame Asiedu Marfo reports that the strike embarked upon by members of JUSSAG seriously affected the proceedings of the three high and two lower courts in the Sunyani municipality.
All the offices at the law courts had been closed and the judicial staff members were conspicuously absent when the Daily Graphic visited the high court building yesterday.
There were no lawyers and clients on the court premises, making the place very calm.
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Kumasi
In Kumasi, the strike by members of JUSSAG over the implementation of their consolidated salaries had a biting effect on litigants as activities at the courts came to a halt, reports Daniel Kenu.
The main gates leading to the courts had been firmly shut when the Daily Graphic visited the area.
A few litigants, mostly from the outskirts of Kumasi who perhaps did not hear of the strike and had travelled to the courts returned disappointed.
The Ashanti Regional Administrator, Mr Noel Agodzo, told the Daily Graphic, “We are members of the association, and once a decision has been taken, it is binding on all of us.”
Bolgatanga
From Bolgatanga, Alhandu Abdul-Hamid writes that the Upper East Regional branch of JUSSAG, in solidarity with their National Executive Council, joined the nationwide strike.
When the Daily Graphic visited the premises of the courts at 9 a.m., there was nobody except the security man and some vehicles belonging to JUSSAG.