The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has announced plans to embark on an indefinite strike starting Monday, January 19, 2026, over the non-payment of eight months’ salary arrears stemming from the implementation of a 10 per cent base pay increase for 2025.
In a statement dated January 12, 2026, and addressed to the National Labour Commission, JUSAG said the decision followed prolonged engagements with the Ministry of Finance and government officials regarding salary reviews and related allowances for Judicial Service staff.
Signed by the association’s National President, Samuel Afotey Otu, the statement said the President, acting under Article 149 of the Constitution, approved a 10 per cent base pay increase for Judicial Service employees for 2025, effective January 1 of that year. The approval, JUSAG noted, was in line with adjustments granted to other public sector workers.
However, the association said implementation of the adjustment for Judicial Service staff was delayed until September 2025, unlike other public sector institutions. Management, it added, assured workers that the arrears covering January to August 2025 would be paid at a later date.
According to JUSAG, further discussions with government led to an understanding that the outstanding arrears would be settled by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. That commitment, the association said, was not honoured.
“Engagements and understanding reached were that payments were to be effected not later than the 2025 fiscal year. Unfortunately, the Government failed to honour its promise of paying the arrears in 2025,” the statement said.
JUSAG said it formally wrote to the Judicial Council on December 16, 2025, requesting payment of the arrears within that month. Despite assurances from management on the same date, the arrears remain unpaid.
The association said the delay has caused significant hardship for its members, particularly during the festive season when staff had expected the eight months’ arrears to be cleared. It added that members were no longer willing to accept further explanations from government.
Following an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council, JUSAG resolved to commence an indefinite strike on January 19, 2026. The industrial action, it said, will remain in force until the full payment of the outstanding salary arrears for January to August 2025 is made.
