The unexpected announcement of elections for July has surprised Justice officials in the middle of a strike. Professionals considered, when they heard the news, whether it was worth maintaining the protest with this new political landscape. The strike committee met this week and decided to continue the indefinite strike, which calls up to 45,000 civil servants.
They understand, according to the president of the CSIF, Javier Jordán de Urríes, that the calling of elections cannot be an excuse not to listen to their demands, since "the Executive is in full power of its powers". Therefore, for this union "there is no legal impediment to negotiate an agreement with the trade unions that satisfies the remunerative demands of 93% of the Justice workforce". The strike committee estimates that the Government will not be in office until the day after the elections (July 24).
Officials, announces Jordán de Urríes, maintain their mobilizations and protests for the coming days and weeks. Without going any further, this Wednesday they demonstrated in front of the PSOE headquarters, in Ferraz, to urge Pedro Sánchez to intervene in the conflict. And on Thursday they protested again. This week, in addition, they sent a letter to the president and another to the second vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, in which they beg them to move the file and order the Ministry of Justice "to immediately start negotiations with the representatives of the officials in the face of the lack of dialogue and negotiation demonstrated by Minister Pilar Llop".
The Central Independent Trade Union and of Officials (CSIF) – the majority union in the Judiciary – with the STAJ, CC.OO. and the UGT, demand that Minister Pilar Llop "do not shield herself in the election call to avoid her responsibility with the 45,000 employees of Justice and Spanish citizens, who are suffering the effects of the strike".
Javier Jordán de Urríes confirms that, since the temporary stoppages began and the indefinite strike began, "more than 700,000 trials have already been suspended and more than 40 million judicial actions have been paralyzed".
The 45,000 Justice officials will continue the mobilizations to demand a salary increase in line with the functions they claim to perform daily. They are asking for between 350 and 430 euros more per month, in line with what the lawyers of the administration of justice and judges and prosecutors have achieved in recent weeks. This claim would involve, if accepted, a disbursement of almost 200 million euros.
The officials accuse the Ministry of Justice of being "classist", as they claim that since the first protests started, on April 17, the department's managers have only met with them twice. They compare this "silence" and "little interest" of the central government towards their claims with the speed with which the agreement (47.6 million euros) was closed with judges and prosecutors to prevent them from going on indefinite strike.
Javier Jordán de Urríes is particularly pained by this lack of response from Justice to the claims. And it portends, if there is no agreement, a huge collapse in judicial offices already heavily punished by work overload and delays. The strike committee considers the silence "indecent". On Thursday, a complaint was announced against Minister Llop before the Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court for "violation of the fundamental right to freedom of association".
