Some 15,000 hearings and processes were postponed due to the strike of the Union of Judicial Employees (SFJ), which will complete a month on Wednesday and will last until April 16, the president of the SFJ told Lusa.
Taking stock of the first month of strike for demands that he describes as “fair” and legitimate” and that were already provided for in previous State Budgets (OE), António Marçal said that adherence to the strike was high, despite the “coercion and “intimidation” exercised against judicial officials by the General Directorate of Justice Administration (DGAJ).
António Marçal criticized the change in negotiating position of the Ministry of Justice (MJ) that went so far as to question the legality of the bailiffs’ strikeinstead of worrying about guaranteeing the “fair” claims of judicial officials, after a “promising” meeting with the Secretary of State for Justice, in which Jorge Alves assured that he would work with the Ministry of Finance to satisfy some claims.
The president of the SFJ once again criticized the Government’s initiative to ask the Consultative Council of the Public Ministry for an opinion on the legality of the strike in progress, instead of resolving the career problems of these professionals.
Union of Judicial Officials accuses the Government of promulgating illegal minimum services
He also regretted that the hearing in the Assembly of the Republic of the Minister of Justice, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, was postponed, when the objective of this parliamentary initiative was to listen to the minister on the Statute of Judicial Officials and not on what the Consultive advice. She will say the opinion of the PGR Council, which is a “mere opinion” and does not bind the courts.
The president of the SFJ has already admitted “reacting judicially” if the Government approves a future opinion of the Consultative Council of the PGR that is unfavorable to the union fight of the bailiffs.
The president of the SFJ also recalled that the other associations in the sector, such as the Trade Union Association of Judges of Portugal (ASJP) and the Union of Magistrates of the Public Ministry (SMMP), have already publicly expressed their solidarity with the struggle of judicial officials. .
Among the demands of the SFJ, according to António Marçal, the question of the integration of the procedural supplement in the salaries of bailiffs is of the utmost importance, especially since this amount is already provided for in two State Budgets and has even been the subject of a resolution. of the Assembly of the Republic.
The issue of access and training competitions, the freezing of careers, the salary scale and the problem of the deficit of employees (estimated at around 1,200) are other issues that concern the SFJ, which is scheduled for March 23 a new meeting with the MJ on the Statute of the class, at a time when the president of the SFJ alleges that the request for an opinion to the PGR does not favor the climate of negotiation.
Recently, António Marçal also warned about the enormous lack of judicial personnel in the judicial system, particularly in the services of the Public Ministry (MP), especially in the services of the MP for Domestic Violence.
Source: Observadora
