Judicial service employees across Ghana will begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday, January 19, a move that threatens to paralyse court operations across the country.
The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) said the action was prompted by the government’s failure to pay eight months of salary arrears dating back to last year. In a formal notice to the National Labour Commission, the association declared that its members could no longer endure what it described as an “unbearable situation” created by the state’s failure to honour its financial commitments.
At the centre of the dispute is a 10 per cent base pay increase for 2025, approved by the president for all public sector workers and scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2025. While other sectors received the adjustment promptly, judicial staff only began receiving the higher pay in September, after government assurances that arrears for the preceding months would be settled “not later than the 2025 fiscal year.”
That promise, JUSAG says, has not been fulfilled. Despite repeated engagements and a written follow-up in December seeking payment before year’s end, staff were left disappointed. According to the strike notice, management provided written assurance on December 16 that the arrears would be cleared that month, but no payment was made.
“The festive month of December was one of the most difficult moments for staff who were very expectant… only to be met with shock and disappointment,” the letter stated.
JUSAG’s National Executive Council emphasised the essential role of judicial staff in maintaining “law, order, and stability.”
The council said it had resolved at an emergency meeting that the strike would continue until its demands are met.
By Ebenezer De-Gaulle