The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, is scheduled to meet with the Judicial Council today [Tuesday], in a bid to get the striking members of the judicial Service staff Association (JUSSAG) back to work.
JUSSAG embarked on an industrial strike last week over what they say is government’s failure to implement the consolidation of salaries and allowances for its members, after over a year of forwarding its request to government.
[contextly_sidebar id=”9cPKwKmONzI0FwVmNCYer58zlY1e4oqa”]But Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, speaking on Eyewitness News, said he is optimistic the meeting will yield fruitful results to get the striking judicial workers at post.
He explained that the measures adopted to address the issue prior to the strike do not mean that “we are not rejecting what has been approved by the Judicial Council. it’s just because the President needed to be advised on the matter.”
“Whatever the Judicial Council is approving must have the prior approval of the President as required in the constitution. What is in dispute now is that, government is correcting some anomalies associated with the lower court bench, therefore you cannot be doing an adjustment of their salaries and allowances based on the lower courts bench when they themselves, their approval is yet to be granted by the president.”
Mr. Iddrisu said they will use the meeting to iron out their differences.
“I trust that when we sit at table on Tuesday, we should be able to dialogue further. We will not negotiate them out of the single spine pay policy of government. I’m hopeful that by close of Wednesday we should have been able to build some consensus,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Judicial Council held a meeting on Monday and urged its members to rescind their decision and return to work while they continue negotiations.
JUSSAG strike illegal
The National Labour Commission (NLC) has also described as illegal, the ongoing strike by members of the Judicial Service Staff Association.
Speaking to Citi News, the newly appointed Executive Secretary of NLC, Lawyer Charles Adongo Bawa Duah said the strike is illegal since JUSSAG failed to give the NLC prior notice before embarking on the strike.
“The Commission came to the conclusion that the intended strike was illegal and must not take place…by the provisions of the Labour Act, any organization, worker or union which intends to embark on a strike must notify the Labour Commission not later than seven days before the strike . Now it was clear that JUSSAG had not served any notice so the Commission decided that by failing to notify the appropriate authority, their [JUSSAG] strike was illegal,” he added.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin