Judges, magistrates call off planned strike
A planned strike by Circuit Court judges and magistrates last Monday was called off following what the judges described as positive engagement with the Judicial Council and the government.
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The lower court judges on November 11, 2016 wrote a letter to the Chief Justice indicating their intention to embark on strike on November 21, 2016 if the government failed to implement a 10 per cent increment in their salaries which was approved in 2010.
However, a source close to the judges told the Daily Graphic that they had called off the strike because "negotiations on the issue had been positive, open and far advanced."
The source said the adjudicators wanted the process that had started to resolve their grievances to continue and that "for now, it would not be necessary for them to lay down their gavels.”
"The Judicial Council has got involved to resolve the matter, so a strike now will not be necessary," the source said.
Letter to CJ
The November 11 letter addressed to the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, was also copied to the Chief of Staff, the Minister of Finance and the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission (NLC).
In the letter, the aggrieved adjudicators said the Ministry of Finance had failed to pay any attention to an attempt made by the Judicial Service last August urging it to implement the increment.
“We humbly bring this to your attention that the undue delay has created anxiety and frustration among members of the lower bench,” it stated.
Interference
The letter explained that there had been undue interference in the Conditions Of Service of the lower court judges, with the government creating the impression that there was a mistake in the Conditions Of Service.
“We wish to reiterate that our Conditions Of Service as approved by the late President John Evans Atta Mills has never been a mistake, but the mistake being alleged is a creation of people whose sole interest is to interfere with the conditions of service of judges and magistrates,’’ it said.
Labour agitation
Despite the cessation of the strike by the lower court judges, the justice delivery system of the country is facing other labour agitations from the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) and the Association of State Attorneys (ASA).
Members of JUSAG are fighting for a consolidation of their allowances and salaries. Members of ASA on the other hand claim there are some discrepancies in their salary structure which ought to be corrected.
An ultimatum issued by JUSAG to embark on strike elapsed at the end of October this year, while members of ASA are currently on strike.