JUSUN gives condition for ending strike

The national leadership of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria has explained why its members in the federal courts have resumed work while their state counterparts remained on strike.The union explained in its letter of “Resolution and directives in respect of the strike by the union” on Tuesday that the Federal Government had undertaken to meet its demand, unlike the 36 state governments.The letter containing the resolutions reached after a series of meetings of the union with the government was obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday.The letter signed by the National Assistant Secretary of the union, P. Nnamani, was addressed to the Vice Presidents, Chairmen and Assistant Secretaries of chapters and branches of the union.JUSUN members had on January 5 embarked on a nationwide strike but on Sunday, the union’s NEC asked the federal court workers to resume work on Monday.The union stated in its letter on Tuesday that the strike would only be suspended in the states where the governments had given their commitment to comply with the judgment, which the union is agitating for its implementation.It read in part, “That the strike by the union at the federal chapters – the federal courts, the National Judicial Institute, the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission- is hereby suspended with effect from January 26, 2015.“That the strike in the state branches (state judiciaries) shall continue until the individual states give a reasonable commitment to implement the provisions of the constitution of Nigeria supported by the judgment of the Federal High Court.“The expected contents of the commitment shall comprise:(a) That monies due to the judiciary should be paid over to the heads of courts on monthly or quarterly basis on the preference of the Federal Government of Nigeria or individual states.“(b) The process of requiring the judiciary to process approvals through the executive should cease forthwith.“(c) Compliance with the terms of the judgment which reinforced the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with effect from January 2015.“(d) That no JUSUN member shall be penalised and/or denied any salaries for embarking on strike to implement the judgment.”