Protest judicial officials say that “it is time for the 25th of April to come to justice” – Society

More than fifty judicial employees gathered this Wednesday at the Justice Campus, in Lisbon, in protest against the lack of response to their demands, and expressed the desire for a 25th of April for the class as well.

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Judicial Employees Union (SFJ), with a red carnation on his chest, assumed a special significance for leading the strike and concentration on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the revolution.

António Marçal stressed the expectation that the Government will respond to the demands for inclusion of the procedural recovery supplement, payment of additional work and filling of tables.

“It is time for the 25th of April to come to justice and, above all, for there to be a 25th of April for court officials. The 25th of April brought major changes to the dignity of work and the rights of workers, therefore, it is time, In the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, we, judicial officials, will also have the right to our 25th of April”, he stated.

And he expressed hope that, “after the 25th of April, on the 26th, there will be this intention and openness on the part of the Government so that the spirit of April can also be realized in relation” to judicial officials.

The president of the SFJ indicated that the union is still awaiting a call for a new meeting at the Ministry of Justice and reiterated that the ongoing strikes will be suspended immediately following “concrete measures” from the Government.

António Marçal noted that the integration of the procedural recovery supplement in 14 months and the payment of additional work are measures that require a short-term response and assured that they do not have a significant budgetary impact.

“In terms of integration, we are talking about 3.75 million euros (ME), the value of the additional work is around 10 ME. These values ​​will total around 14 ME, which is what the Ministry of Justice would not pay if it had the complete staff. The budget issue is a false issue”, he said.

Dozens of court officials attended the gathering and others simply went on strike without being present at the protest, leaving the courts at capacity or paralyzed, something that is no longer difficult, according to Lusa, justice technician Celso Celestino, from 61 years old, given the shortage of professionals.

“Right now there are between 1,500 and 2,000 fewer bailiffs. In addition to there being no competition, a bailiff takes time to complete. You don’t just pick up just any person and get to work”, he summarized, regretting the closure of professional and higher institutions that trained judicial officers.

As a consequence of the absence of entrance exams for the profession for years, the class has aged, maintained the employee of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Amadora: “When I joined the courts there were almost no grandparents. Nowadays, there are none court where there are no grandparents, they are almost all grandparents”.

Another frequent complaint from these professionals is the lack of career progression. Eva Garcia, 59 years old, is one of these cases, having joined the courts as an intern in 1997, having her first promotion in September last year.

“It says a lot about the conditions that this profession has and the expectations we have when we enter”, said the employee of the Local Criminal Court of Lisbon, also criticizing the lack of resources: “It is impossible for us to be able to enter all the documents that need to be within the processes, because the volume of service is gigantic”.

For Eva Garcia, work overload also translates into a warning about mental health. “We have a class that, imbued with the responsibilities it has, always puts the interests of others [à frente]. For some reason we didn’t complain for years about the overtime we worked without pay. We started to change it due to the issue of exhaustion, the lack of staff that leads us to a situation of exhaustion and burnout”, she warned.