Government lawyers at the National Agency for Legal Aid have threatened a sit-down strike over poor working conditions at the agency.
In a letter to the executive secretary of the agency seen by The Fatu Network, the lawyers complained about poor pay and poor working environment.
The lawyers said in their June 25 letter: “With only one roadworthy vehicle which is barely available to the legal unit, it has become impractical to carry out the above mandate. Legal Aid 3, the pickup that has been assigned to transport the lawyers is so dilapidated that it often breaks down in the middle of the road thereby leaving lawyers stranded on the road or forced to join public transport in order to get to court. The cushion that should cover the seats in Legal Aid 3 are all worn out exposing the dusty foam and open wires on the seats. Legal officers have had to bear the embarrassment of coming out of the car with foam dust all over their clothes and torn skirts which is a very humiliating experience. This vehicle has become a health hazard, several times the lawyers have been involved in accident with this very car. These incidents have been lamented to you severally, but nothing has changed for the better. The conditions continue to deteriorate daily.
“Secondly, we, the lawyers informed you sometime in March, 2020 at one of our meetings that our counterparts at the Ministry of Justice have received a hundred percent (100%) pay rise with a draw back from January, 2020. As lawyers in the employment of the state, we protested that staff of the Agency should be accorded same pay rise or even more taking into account how disadvantaged we are and the daunting task our office has been inundated with. You intimated to us following the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Agency with the president of the Republic sometime last year that steps were being taken to ensure we have adequate mobility and to receive same pay rise as our counterparts at the Justice Ministry. However, we are half way into 2021 and this promise has remained unchanged.
“Thirdly, the legal department has been grappling with the issue of printing court processes in time for onward court filings due to lack of a printer at the said department. The only readily available printer is installed at the Assistant Account’s office and whenever the said office is closed, printing of court processes becomes impossible. You had indicated to us that we were at liberty to use the printer in your office. However, when you are not around, no one can access that printer since it is connected to your laptop and does not recognize any other computer. On several occasions lawyers have had to go and print court processes outside the office at their own expense when there are so many printers lying around but not working.”
The lawyers called on the agency’s leadership to address the three issues as soon as possible or they would proceed on an indefinite sit-down strike starting on July 1.
