The strike of judges and prosecutors is closer than ever to being called off definitively, although to take that step, the Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM), the majority in this negotiation, still needs to give its approval.
Today the seven associations represented in this negotiation have met again with representatives of the Ministry of Justice. Six have shown themselves in favor of withdrawing the strike threat, by accepting the offer of 46.7 million euros launched by the Government. Only APM spokespersons have distanced themselves from that agreement. They announce that they will say their last word throughout this afternoon.
Everything seems to indicate, except for last-minute surprises, that next Monday (May 22) there will be no strike by prosecutors and judges. After five meetings with the Ministry of Justice, most of the associations that launched this threat have made it known early this afternoon that they accept the Government's proposal.
Or put another way, these professionals accept the offer to update their payrolls with an injection of 46.7 million euros. That means a monthly increase in their salaries of up to 450 euros for the 8,000 judges and prosecutors in Spain.
But the agreement is not closed, despite this announcement made when those summoned to this last meeting have suspended the meeting to go to eat. The negotiation continues this afternoon and now all that remains is to know if the majority Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM) accepts this deal or not.
At the moment those judges located in the most conservative wing have not yet approved the agreement. They will wait for the drafting of the agreement, this afternoon, to say the last word about it.
The Ministry of Justice does not seem willing to increase its offer of 46.7 million by a single cent. But the department directed by Pilar Llop has shown itself willing in recent hours to accept other demands, which have nothing to do with the economic aspect, referring to improvements in the day-to-day life of these professionals.
There has been talk in these meetings of workloads, variable remuneration, on-call, computation of three-year periods... as well as creating new one hundred positions for prosecutors and judges next year to relieve them of tasks.
And while this negotiation continues, the Ministry of Justice is negotiating with another front opened by the strike of the civil servants of the basic scale.
This morning those public workers have once again demonstrated before the Congress of Deputies. And they have taken stock of the bill already paid by citizens for their intermittent strikes. They assure that a million trials have been suspended and that more than 30 million judicial proceedings have been paralyzed.
The officials are also asking for more money and are keeping alive their threat of an indefinite strike as of May 22 if the Ministry of Justice does not respond to their requests.
