All associations of judges and prosecutors have agreed to postpone the strike following the latest offer of wage increases presented by the Government. The Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM, 1,340 members), the majority and most conservative, has resisted until Thursday afternoon, but finally, and after a meeting of its board of directors, has agreed to postpone the indefinite strike that was called from next Tuesday, May 16. The Ministries of Justice and Finance, which negotiate with judges and prosecutors an increase in their remuneration, have promised to deliver that day a document with their detailed offer and to put on the table new improvements in aspects such as the amount that both careers receive for the guards, trienniums and other complements.
In a note released late on Thursday, the APM defends that it has remained "always firm in the defense of the professional demands of the judicial career," and that the call for an indefinite strike "was a difficult and very thoughtful decision." "We have always been aware of the importance of our constitutional function, knowing, also, the serious consequences that a strike can have for the protection and safeguarding of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as for the normal functioning of the Administration of Justice," says the association. However, and although he considers that the Government's offer "is still insufficient", he has chosen to suspend the strike "as a gesture of goodwill" and "waiting for the progress that occurs in the remuneration table for the benefit of the interests of the judicial career".
The postponement of the strike allows the Government to gain time to shore up its proposal and convince the associations to accept it next Tuesday. If it does not succeed, although the strike of judges and prosecutors has been left out of the first week of the electoral campaign, it would sneak into the final stretch of the road to the polls. In that case, two possible scenarios would open: that the Government closes the wage increase agreement only with some associations and raises the salary of the judges even if they maintain the strike, which could complicate the message of these in the face of public opinion; or, on the contrary, that the Executive decides to withdraw the proposal if the majority of the associations reject it.
The APM, which brings together the most conservative wing of the race and has traditionally monopolized more power in the judicial leadership, has been the latest to join the postponement of the strike. That step was already taken on Wednesday night by the two associations of prosecutors that supported the strike – the Association of Prosecutors (AF, with around 600 associates) and the Independent Professional Association of Prosecutors (APIF, with just over 40) – also of conservative tendency, as well as Independent Judicial Forum (339 associates). The progressive associations – Association of Judges for Democracy, with 441 members, and the Progressive Union of Prosecutors, 242 members – had already decided to accept the Government's proposal and not join the mobilizations, while the Francisco de Vitoria (AJFV, 846 members) decided on Thursday morning to postpone the strike until May 22.
"After analyzing the existing situation, we have decided to respond to the request of the Ministry of Justice," said the association in a statement, in which they note that, although the negotiations at the remuneration table "have not borne fruit", three meetings have already been held "of a negotiating body that has remained inert for more than a decade". "There is also a proposal on the table to systematize the technical work schedule of the table for the next negotiation cycle – which is five-year," adds the AJFV, which defends that it has maintained a "constructive" attitude throughout the negotiation "with a logical sequence of proposals that reveal a true negotiating spirit." "From the responsibility, we now choose to maintain that same line of action and expand the margin of negotiation for a few days, as requested by the Ministry. We are confident that this additional margin will not be wasted," concludes the statement released Thursday.
The progressive JJPD has also released a note in which it confirms that it considers "reasonable" the Government's proposal, so its leaders have decided to accept it and call the meeting scheduled for the 16th, in which the Government will detail the improvements it proposes in aspects such as the remuneration of triennia, workloads, guards and other variable remuneration, as well as in aspects of occupational health and professional career. These improvements would be added to the salary increase already proposed to adapt the salaries of judges and prosecutors to the new efficiency laws, and which implies increases of up to 490 euros per month. The increase would be applied in the destination complement, one of those charged by all judges and prosecutors, and would mean that the Government allocates to the salaries of both bodies up to 46.7 million euros more than now.
The Executive offered that this amount be distributed with the formula chosen by the associations: having a greater impact on judges and prosecutors of higher categories or those of lower categories. In any case, the increases would range between 440 and 490 euros per month for judges, and 350 and 490 euros per month for all prosecutors, and in some of the options all judges and prosecutors would see their salary increased between 440 and 460 euros per month, a higher rise than that agreed last March with the lawyers of the Administration of Justice, with an average increase of 431 euros, and that ended two months of indefinite strike by that body and precipitated that judges and prosecutors mobilized to achieve a similar agreement.
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