The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) says the government’s revised offer to resolve issues behind its ongoing strike addresses less than 20 per cent of the association’s demands.
The association’s General Secretary, Abdulai Yakubu, said the revised offer was an improvement on the government’s earlier position but remained unsatisfactory.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, November 5, he said the government presented the revised offer to the unions following engagements with the management of the Judicial Service.
“The revision is an improvement from the position that we were earlier. Except that when the unions subjected it to scrutiny, we observed that it did not meet the demands as we had. I would say it did not come to even 20% of the demands that we were looking for,” he said.
Mr Yakubu said four outstanding issues remained unresolved, although the association had agreed to the revised timelines for payment of the arrears in two instalments.
He said the union had reconsidered its position after assessing the impact of the strike on members of the public, particularly people with urgent legal matters.
He cited the case of a litigant who needed an attestation from the courts to travel abroad for a kidney transplant but could not obtain the document because the courts were not sitting.
“Yesterday, I was so shocked when a litigant had to get an attestation to travel abroad for a kidney transplant, and it could not be done because the courts were not sitting. We are very concerned about that,” he said.
Mr Yakubu said the association had subsequently held a caucus and prepared a revised proposal, which it submitted to the government as its final position in an effort to end the strike.
He said the proposal had been sent to the Attorney-General, the Judiciary, the Office of the President, the Minister of Labour and the Ministry of Finance.
“We submitted it last night and this morning. We distributed the other letters in anticipation that this particular one would be granted for us, and then we can have the strike come to an end,” he said.
Although he declined to disclose the details of the proposal, Mr Yakubu expressed hope that the government would accept it and allow the association to call off the strike.
