Court officials assure strikes will ‘continue’ after meeting with Justice Minister

The president of the Union of Judicial Servants, António Marsal, assured this Thursday that strikes in the courts “will continue”, after a meeting with the new Minister of Justice that did not bring anything new.

“Nothing. Goodwill, knowledge of the situation, confirmation that the government intends to find a solution, but the solution we are pointing to is an emergency solution that is necessary to avoid the closure of the courts,” Madam Minister said that she is not yet in a position to enter into possession and the next work meeting has not yet been scheduled, for which there is no date, which will allow us to effectively continue our fight,” he said.

António Marsal spoke to journalists after the first meeting at the Ministry of Justice in Lisbon with the new portfolio holder Rita Giudice and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of answers to the pressing problems of this professional class, which has existed for more than a year, has experienced several strikes that have led to the delay of thousands of steps and procedural actions.

“The strikes will continue as long as the government wants it,” the SFJ president reiterated, continuing: “We will maintain forms of struggle until there is a change, not in discourse, but in practice. we assumed that we were willing to be part of the solution, to find solutions that served not only the interests of workers, but also the interests of the country, and to make justice work better. But this means that from the side of political power. there must be concrete actions.”

The President of the Union of Justice Workers (SOJ), Carlos Almeida, was also received today at the Ministry of Justice and expressed some disappointment that he has not yet found the answers “that the country requires” for justice. Without being “in the mood,” he said he should be contacted next week to set up a new appointment.

“The minister says it is impossible to give answers now, but she will call us in the coming days to begin work,” he said, stressing: “She has not made any commitment to respond, but we will insist again. The government is aware of the demands of the bailiffs, the minister also knows, and especially since the courts are paralyzed, and therefore it is impossible to continue insisting on inaction.”

For Carlos Almeida, a priority aspect among the demands of the class is the revision of the salary table, as this will have an impact on attracting more human resources to a sector that is currently experiencing shortages.

“It is impossible to attract workers to the courts unless we have an attractive wage scale. We have put this issue in the first place, it is clear that we need income, we need to review the pension regime, the charter. It is also necessary to consider a number of factors that we need to analyze, and the Minister of Justice has undertaken to analyze the claims,” he concluded.

The leaders of the two unions also stressed that the government needs to clarify whether it will invest in a justice system that effectively serves the people and can provide answers for everyone, rather than leaving the courts in an increasingly difficult situation that will ultimately lead to the strengthening of other systems justice. mediation.