Circuit Court judges, magistrates threaten strike from Nov 21

Circuit  Court judges and magistrates will on November 21, 2016 embark on strike if the government fails to implement a 10 per cent increment in their salaries which was approved in 2010.

According to the lower court judges and magistrates, the government, since the increment, had continuously dragged its feet on its implementation.

 The judges expressed their intention to strike in a letter dated November 11, 2016, signed by its representative, Mr Aboagye Tandoh, and addressed to the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.

 It 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. 

“We, therefore, respectfully wish to notify your good office that members of the lower bench have taken a decision to withdraw our services from November 21, 2016 if the issue of 10 per cent increment is not addressed and the money paid to us,” the letter stated. 

Not a mistake

The letter explained that there had been undue interference in the condition of service of the lower court judges with the government creating the impression that there was a mistake in the condition of service.

“We wish to reiterate that our condition 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.

The lower court judges, however, expressed the hope that steps would be taken to avert the strike.

Labour agitation

This is the third time the lower court judges had issued a warning concerning their displeasure with the lack of action on the implementation of their conditions of service.

In June this year, they vehemently opposed a planned move by the government to revise their conditions of service.

That was after they claimed that the government was planning to revise their conditions of service right after it agreed to implement new conditions of service for other unions in the Judicial Service.

On September 20, 2016, the lower court judges threatened to embark on strike by the end of that month if the 10 per cent salary increment was not implemented.

Apart from the judges of the lower bench, members of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) have also threatened to go on strike. An ultimatum issued by them elapsed at the end of October this year.

Currently, members of the Association of State Attorneys (ASA) are also on an indefinite strike.