Court staff in Ghana will remain on strike until the government approves the Judicial Council’s recommendations on their conditions of service, Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) General Secretary Abdulai Yakubu said.
The strike began on Monday, November 2, and entered its fourth day on Thursday, with most courts closed. The Supreme Court sat on Tuesday after Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie ordered it to do so.
“We have made our position clear that approval of the substantive advice is the pre-condition for calling off the strike. But we consulted with the Judicial Council today, and that is the position that the Council still maintains,” Yakubu said on Channel One TV.
The dispute centres on approval of the new conditions of service, rather than the proposed payment schedule for salary arrears.
On the day the strike started, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson approved payment of 10 months’ arrears under conditions of service that took effect on January 1, 2026. The arrears are due to be paid in two instalments, covering January to May in November and June to October in December.
Yakubu said that arrangement did not resolve JUSAG’s main concern.
“You give timelines for payment of arrears based on the substantive approval. When there are issues with the substantive approval, and you go to give timelines for the payment of the arrears, you are not really solving the issues,” he said.
JUSAG had previously rejected a Finance Ministry proposal for payment in three instalments without specified dates.
The association wants the President to approve the Judicial Council’s recommendation on its 2026 salary review. It says Article 149 of the Constitution and C.I. 141, the regulations governing Judicial Service staff, provide for an increase no lower than that awarded to other public workers.
Meetings with government
Yakubu said JUSAG had met the Chief Justice, Judicial Service management, the Labour Minister and Attorney-General Dr Dominic Ayine.
He described the meeting with Ayine as positive, saying the Attorney-General understood the association’s position because he had helped prepare the instrument setting out its conditions of service.
According to Yakubu, Ayine told JUSAG leaders that he had prepared C.I. 141 and advised the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission that their allowance claims were legitimate. He also promised to discuss with the Finance Minister how the outstanding demands could be addressed.
“We have shown that empathy and good faith for 10 months, we’re in the 11th month. We still don’t have our demands,” Yakubu said.
JUSAG says it submitted its salary proposal to the Judicial Council in December 2025, but that the Council’s advice was sent to the President without approval. The association cited that unresolved issue when announcing the strike on October 30.
Impact on court users
Judicial Service staff, apart from security personnel, have been instructed to stay home, while registrars have been told to keep court registries closed.
The closures could delay bail applications, remand hearings and the arraignment of suspects within 48 hours of arrest, as required by the Constitution. Litigants at about 42 High Courts at the Law Court Complex in Accra found the gates locked and tied with red cloth on Monday.
The National Labour Commission has given the Labour Minister until Friday, November 6, to report on discussions with both sides.
JUSAG’s National Executive Council will decide the next step after receiving a revised approval that meets its demands. It is the association’s second dispute with government this year, following a January suspension of planned industrial action over eight months of 2025 salary arrears.
