Court staff have been waging strike action for 18 months
Thousands more judicial cases risk becoming snarled up in the already creaking system as the union of justice officials (SOJ) has announced a new strike, starting on June 28, for every single Wednesday and Friday morning until their demands (for pay and careers enhancements) are accepted.
Says the syndicate’s latest statement, the government has “presented nothing significant to change the socio-professional situation of (its members) or their working conditions”, in spite of political change (at the March elections), a new minister of Justice and renewed negotiations.
For the union, resolving the conflict that has now been going on for 18 months – deeply affecting judicial process in a country – is simple. “All that is needed is for the government to comply with the electoral programme presented to the country in the last elections”.
In other words, another sector (police being one of the first) is flagging the ‘chinks’ in the government’s expressed intentions: pre-election pledges do not appear to be translating into policy.
In the strike now called, the union is demanding a revision of the salary scale annexed to the Statute of Judicial Officers and inclusion of the procedural recovery supplement in salaries with effect from January 1, 2021, writes Lusa.
In addition, the union is calling for the opening of the procedure for promotion and access to all categories whose posts are vacant, as well as the opening of ‘an entry competition for the career of justice official’.
Earlier this month (June 5), SOJ president Carlos Almedia justified refusing to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Justice, insisting the government’s proposal needed ‘strengthening’.
At the end of the meeting with Justice minister Rita Alarcão Júdice, Almeida explained the proposal was much the same as the previous one, although the government had raised the amount of the increase in the procedural recovery supplement by one percentage point (from 12.5% to 13.5%). That said, the government was not playing ball on applying the increase retroactively to January 2021 – meaning the increase would only be paid with effect from June 1.
SFJ, the other union structure involved in negotiations, has however reached agreement with the government, considering the June 5 proposal “a first step” on the road to increasing salaries and enhancing career prospects.
Source material: LUSA
