Judges and prosecutors raise the pressure on the Government with a strike threat in the middle of the campaign

The temperature rises another degree in the Spanish courts.

With only one month to go before the elections on May 28 and with the officials of the Administration of Justice already immersed in a strike since last week, the majority associations of judges and prosecutors have now surprised the government of Pedro with another direct order. Sánchez: they will also start indefinite strikes as of May 16 (in the middle of the electoral campaign) if the Executive does not present concrete proposals to them at the remuneration table convened on May 3.

This initiative, suspected for days, has the support of the conservative and moderate groups of the race, and the progressives do not rule out joining.

"This is not the time to adopt certain measures of pressure," Pilar Llop, Minister of Justice, tried to defend herself.

The associations of judges and prosecutors have spent weeks studying the possibility of going on strike.

They drag a palpable discontent with the Government, which they accuse of giving them long and "make the partridge dizzy."

Last year, after months of contacts and conversations with Justice, the remuneration table was convened for October – the only body where, according to the law, they can negotiate improvements, since the Constitution prevents them from joining unions.

But this appointment was suspended unilaterally by the Executive and without giving them any explanation, which generated enormous anger.

To this is added that, on March 27, they saw how the Ministry closed an agreement with the Lawyers of the Administration of Justice (LAJ) that gave the green light to a salary increase of up to 450 euros for this group after two months of mobilizations and the suspension of 350.

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Justice, on a war footing after the Government's agreement with the lawyers

"It seems that the strike is the only language they understand in the Treasury and Justice," advanced last week María Jesús del Barco, spokesperson for the conservative and majority Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM).

Along the same lines, Jorge Fernández Vaquero, spokesman for the Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association (AJFV), spoke on Monday: “We are at the same point where our talks began in 2022. Unfortunately, the call for a strike is a as it prepares us for the worst.

And the worst thing is that this merely dilatory attitude of the Ministry of Justice and Finance is repeated.

If your intention is merely to tease us, you know what the consequences are."

For its part, a meeting held this Monday between representatives of Justice and the strike committee of Justice officials ended without an agreement.

Three of the four judicial associations —APM, AJFV and the Independent Judicial Forum, which represent 47.1% of the race— already openly stated last week that they would go on strike if they left the May 3 meeting with their hands up. empty.

But, until this Monday, they had not put a date on the table.

The one announced now, which also has the support of the conservative Association of Prosecutors (AF) and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF), changes everything for that appointment, since they reach the negotiation with the Government with the threat to initiate the strikes in the middle of the electoral campaign.

In addition, the progressive Judges and Judges for Democracy (JJpD) —its affiliates are 8% of all magistrates and judges in the country— does not close the door to join.

JJpD, like the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF), wants to wait for the remuneration table before making any movement.

This is how Ascensión Martín, spokesman for Judges and Judges for Democracy, puts it, which is more restrained: “It does not seem right to us to go directly to a strike on May 16 without first listening to the Ministry of Justice.

It seems a bit rushed."

Of course, she clinches: “We do not rule out any measure after May 3.

That day, we await concrete proposals”.

All judicial and prosecutorial associations stress that monetary improvements are only part of their demands.

"This is not a strike just for remuneration," Ascensión Martín stresses.

In a joint statement, signed by the seven groups of both careers, it is emphasized: “We have spent years denouncing the lack of sufficient endowment of the public service that constitutes the administration of Justice.

The workloads of the courts and prosecutors affect both the quality and speed of the judicial response and the health of the judiciary and the members of the prosecution, and everything relies on reinforcement plans and the dedication of professionals, who It cannot be the only remedy for overloading and high litigation”.

Pilar Llop, a judge by profession, responded this Monday from the Seville April Fair, which she had attended: “This is not the time to adopt certain pressure measures, which can be very legitimate.

I know very well what work in the trenches is, but what we really need now is for our justice to look out for the citizen and for good public service."

The Government is playing in its favor the trick that it approved in January an 8% salary increase for all civil servants over the next three years, which is already noticeable in the payrolls of judges and prosecutors.

However, in an article published by the APM and written by one of the members of its executive committee, magistrate Alejandro González Mariscal de Gante states: "Salary adjustments have not occurred, beyond minimal increases that do not offset the high increase in the CPI or the salary decreases produced years ago [...] The consequence is that, in 2003, the salary of a judge reached seven times the minimum interprofessional salary, today three, if it reaches.

Yes, the SMI has gone up.

The judge, on the other hand, seems to not need it”.

The conservative sector of the General Council of the Judiciary is also moving

Eight conservative members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) have requested this Monday the president of the governing body of judges, Rafael Mozo, to include in the agenda of the next ordinary plenary session —scheduled for next Thursday, April 27— the strike call announced by judges and prosecutors.

The signatories (José Antonio Ballestero, José María Macías, Juan Martínez Moya, Juan Manuel Fernández, Carmen Llombart, Ángeles Carmona, Gerardo Martínez Tristán and Wenceslao F. Olea) want a new point to “assess” these mobilizations.

The associations of judges and prosecutors have advanced their "intention" to call strikes as of May 16.

The proposal of the eight members reaches a CGPJ that has been pending renewal for more than four years, and with the conservative wing immersed in a continuous battle with the left-wing government.

One of the last struggles occurred at the end of last year, when this sector resisted naming its candidates for the Constitutional Court, which prevented its renewal.

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