More than fifty members of the judiciary gathered this Wednesday at the Justice Campus in Lisbon to protest the lack of response to their demands and expressed their desire to hold classes on April 25th.
In a conversation with Lusa, the president of the Union of Judicial Employees (SFJ), wearing a red carnation on his chest, emphasized the importance of leading the strike and concentration on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the revolution.
António Marsal stressed that he expects the government to respond to demands for the inclusion of a procedural surcharge, payment for additional work and the completion of tables.
“It is time for April 25th to face justice and, above all, for April 25th to be April 25th for judicial officials. April 25 brought major changes to the dignity of labor and workers’ rights, so it’s time. On the 50th anniversary of April 25, we, court officials, will also have the right to our April 25,” he said.
And he expressed the hope that “after April 25, the 26th, there will be such intention and openness on the part of the government that the spirit of April can be realized in relation to” judicial officials.
The SFJ president noted that the union is still awaiting the convening of a new meeting at the Ministry of Justice, and confirmed that ongoing strikes will be suspended immediately after “concrete measures” from the government.
António Marsal noted that the integration of procedural compensation for 14 months and the payment of additional work are measures that require a short-term response, and assured that they will not have a significant impact on the budget.
“From an integration point of view, we are talking about 3.75 million euros (ME), the cost of additional work is about 10 ME. These amounts would amount to about 14 IU, which is what the Department of Justice would not have paid if it had been at full strength. The budget issue is a false issue,” he said.
Dozens of court officials attended the meeting, while others simply went on strike without attending the protest, leaving the courts fully booked or paralyzed, which Lusa, justice specialist Celso Celestino, 61, said given the shortage of professionals.
“Now there are 1,500-2,000 fewer bailiffs. Not only is there no competition, but the bailiff also needs time to complete the work. It’s impossible to just take any person and start working,” he concluded, regretting the closure of professional and higher institutions. trained judicial workers.
Due to the lack of entrance exams for the profession for many years, the class has aged, says Amadora, an employee of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DIAP): “When I came to court, there were almost no grandparents. Now, there is no court where there are no grandparents, they are almost all grandparents.”
Another common complaint from these professionals is the lack of career growth. Eva Garcia, 59, is one such case: she joined the court as a trainee in 1997 and received her first promotion last September.
“This says a lot about the conditions in which this profession operates and the expectations we place on ourselves when we enter it,” said an official from the Lisbon local criminal court, also criticizing the lack of resources: “We cannot provide all the documents, which should be in the processes, because the volume of services is gigantic.”
For Eva Garcia, being overwhelmed at work also means a mental health warning. “We have a class which, imbued with its responsibilities, always puts the interests of others before [à frente]. For some reason, we haven’t complained about working overtime without pay for years. We started to change this because of the problem of fatigue, lack of personnel, which leads us to a situation of fatigue and burnout,” he warned.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal

I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.