Justice officials resume strikes today, which could last until the end of the year

The Court Officials are on strike again today: a one-day suspension announced by the Court Officials Union and the first day of another four months of the typical but also creative Court Officials Union strikes.

“It will be a combination of traditional one-day strikes, which will not coincide throughout the country, which will be supplemented by strikes of courts, cores, districts or municipalities, depending on the size of the courts,” which will begin. at this hour, the first check is scheduled in this court, which ends at 12:00 or 17:00, depending on whether they start in the morning or in the afternoon, António Marsal Luce explained.

The president of the Union of Judicial Officers (SFJ) said that strikes were called, but the workers would like “not to take place until the Department of Justice actually begins to respond in a concrete and thorough manner” to “reasonable and fair, as everyone recognizes.”

The SFJ’s demands, which have already led to a traditional strike during the day last Friday to mark the reopening of the courts after the court recess, continue to call for an immediate opening of competition for access to all positions and categories. which are vacant, and the inclusion of a procedural surcharge for collection at maturity, also retroactive to January 2021 and payable after 14 months, as the union recalls, was provided for in two state budgets.

As part of collective bargaining, the SFJ wants a review of career-worthy professional status, as well as a special pension regime and a multi-year competition to fill vacancies.

The Union of Bailiffs called last week a nationwide strike this Monday for just one day, but acknowledged that it would exacerbate the fight “if the government continues to show government arrogance.”

In a communiqué issued at the time, the union recalled that it had been on strike since early January this year and criticized the Justice Minister’s “deafening silence” and “inaction” on the “fair demands” of the judiciary. to officials, including the inclusion in the term of the procedural recovery of an additional payment with retroactive effect until January 2021, and payment after 14 months; opening of promotions and new places; and a special pension regime for these professionals.

In successive strikes since the beginning of the year, the unions of the judiciary have placed on Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento e Castro and on the government the burden of ending the strikes, which the minister admitted on the sidelines of the Chamber of Commerce to the Congress of the Union of Portuguese Judges (ASJP) in Funchal in March ” destroys justice.”

Unions estimate that many thousands of steps have already been delayed due to stoppages, numbering over 100,000 according to SFJ estimates, but when all actions such as quotes, notices, and others are taken into account, they could exceed five million steps to complete.

“Due to the continuation of the protest and mainly due to the lack of commitment on the part of the Ministry of Justice to strengthen human resources, the situation will worsen and the restoration of this lost time will take about two years,” António Marsal stressed in a statement to Luce. , last week.

The Minister of Justice attributed the resolution of the union grievances to the new professional statutes and on Friday promised “in the next few days” to reveal the government’s project to revise the statutes, to which the SFJ responded by willingness to stop fighting when concrete proposals become known, and not before what he called “Just another advertisement.”