The General Secretary of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), Abdulai Yakubu, says no judicial service staff at the Supreme Court should report for work if the ongoing strike is not resolved by the end of this week.
According to him, the association has instructed its members at the apex court to ensure that Wednesday’s sitting was the last during the industrial action, insisting that judicial service employees should not be made to work while the strike remains in force.
Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, November 5, Mr Yakubu said the association was initially surprised when the Supreme Court continued sitting after the strike began.
He explained that the leadership engaged its members after the court sat on the first day, believing the situation would be a one-off occurrence.
However, he said the leadership was taken by surprise when the Supreme Court sat again on Wednesday.
“After the Wednesday sitting, we have given an indication to our members who work at the Supreme Court that let the Wednesday sitting be the last of its kind,” he said.
Mr Yakubu clarified that JUSAG was not opposed to the Supreme Court conducting its business but objected to the use of judicial service staff to facilitate court proceedings during the strike.
He said there had been no sitting at the Supreme Court on Thursday and indicated that the court might not sit on Friday either.
He warned that if the dispute remained unresolved by the close of the week, the association would direct all its members working at the Supreme Court not to report for duty.
“If we don’t get any resolution by the close of this week, the message we have for our members who work at the Supreme Court is that no one should turn up at the Supreme Court, and let no management member or anybody coerce any staff to violate any part of this strike,” he said.
Mr Yakubu maintained that the strike was protected under international labour laws to which Ghana is a signatory.