Striking state attorneys to resume work Monday – Gloria Akuffo reveals

Attorney General-designate, Gloria Akuffo, has revealed that state attorneys who have been on strike since October last year will resume work on Monday, January 23.

According to her, the state attorneys have met with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a bid to resolve their grievances.

“The President himself has intervened in the matter and has succeeded in persuading them to go back to work. I spoke with their national president and she assured me they will be reporting...on Monday,” Gloria Akuffo told Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Saturday.

She made the revelations during her vetting for the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice, facing the committee shortly after the vetting of Interior Minister-designate, Ambrose Dery.

The Association of State Attorneys embarked on a strike late last year to protest of government’s failure to meet demands for improved service conditions.

The Attorney-General’s office, led by Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong described the strike as illegal, and further directed the State Attorneys to return to work by Tuesday, January 3, 2017, or be “considered as having vacated post.”

The Association of State Attorneys, however, insisted their strike is legal, noting that it was pursuant to a statutory notice under Section 159 (b) of Act 651.

The attorneys also blamed the National Labour Commission for the impasse, explaining that the Commission should have gone to the High Court to compel the government to improve their conditions of service.

Among other things, the striking state attorneys demand the following:

Payments of correct harmonised salaries
Housing facilities
Sustainable pension scheme
Free official vehicles
Research allowance
Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com