Judicial Workers Suspend Strike, To Resume Work Today

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has suspended its ongoing industrial action, instructing its members to resume work today.

The union suspended the strike after leaders of JUSUN met with representatives of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.

A communique signed by the national vice president of the association, alongside 10 other members of the association’s executives, disclosed that the decision to end the strike came after long deliberations on the issues that led to the strike and a series of meetings held with the representatives of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and other relevant stakeholders on Tuesday.

After the meeting, stakeholders agreed that JUSUN should request the intervention of the CJN and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, as well as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other stakeholders.

Part of the agreement included that the suspension of the strike would allow the union to engage the Federal Government to ensure the release of funds to the judiciary within a month.

The communique also disclosed that “upon the release of the funds to the Judiciary, the demands by the JUSUN implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage and its arrears, 25/35 percent salary increase and five months’ wage award and their arrears will be implemented immediately”.

Those who signed the communique apart from the JUSUN national vice president are the national assistant financial secretary and the chairman of JUSUN chapters of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, National Judicial Institute, FCT High Court, FCT Sharia and Customary Courts as well as the FCT Judicial Service Commission.

JUSUN national body had, on May 30, in a circular by its acting national secretary, M.J Akwashiki, asked all its chapters’ chairmen to direct all their members to begin strike from midnight of Sunday, June 1.

Their demands included, to make the government pay their five months’ wage award, implement the N70,000 National Minimum Wage, as well as the 25/35 percent salary.”