Prison guards and court officials meet again with guardianships to wait for solutions

Prison guards hope that the meeting with the Minister of Justice on Friday will result in solutions, namely for the attribution of a mission supplement equivalent to that of the Judicial Police, “the quickest way to resolve salary increases”.

“Our hopes are that the minister will present us with solutions for the prison guard body, from promotions, to presenting us with the budgetary impact for them, the evaluation system equal to our PSP colleagues, with the necessary changes, and the mission supplement, which at the moment is the quickest way to resolve salary increases”, Frederico Morais, leader of the National Union of the Prison Guard Corps (SNCGP), told Lusa.

For the union leader, it is unacceptable to have prison guards with more than 20 years of service and who have only progressed two pay levels.

“As the minister said, it is urgent and urgent to resolve the prison guard problems. This is what we hope and hope to see resolved on the 3rd”, said Frederico Morais.

In a statement sent last week, the Ministry of Justice (MJ) announced the scheduling of meetings for May 3, with five unions representing judicial employees and prison guards, to establish a negotiating protocol and present the assumptions for negotiation between the parties .

The MJ stated that he hopes that the negotiation “will be successful and result in an end to the long cycle of strikes that has lasted for more than 15 years.”

“The Government also hopes that it will be possible to restore the normal functioning of the courts and the prison system, as well as guaranteeing the full exercise by citizens of the constitutional right of access to justice”, adds the guardianship.

The Union of Judicial Employees (SFJ), which has maintained a succession of strikes for more than a year to demand a career review and payment of the procedural recovery supplement integrated into the salary, paid over 14 months, among other demands, has already been scheduled new strike, starting on May 8th, on Wednesdays and Friday mornings.

In the meeting with the minister, the SFJ is preparing to demand, in the short term, the payment of the aforementioned remuneration supplement, which “requires a small budgetary effort”, since it is currently paid over 11 months, and the payment of hours extraordinary, highlighting that the functions require availability for service “far beyond normal hours”, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Still in the short term, the union intends to see a residence supplement granted, so that “it is possible to attract and retain qualified professionals” and “so that there are candidates for positions and that they feel encouraged to remain in their careers”.

In the medium term, the union wants to see a supplement instituted for the duty of permanent availability “similar to other professions within the public service” and the revision of the Statute of Judicial Employees, a process that the previous socialist executive left uncompleted, having presented a revision proposal that drew criticism from the bailiffs’ unions, but also from magistrates and the Bar Association.

According to the president of the union, António Marçal, the SFJ intends to approve its proposal to review professional status at the congress it organizes between May 10 and 12, in Anadia, Aveiro, “where the forms of struggle that prove necessary will be decided “.

For May 7th, the union has also scheduled a plenary session of leaders and union delegates in front of the MJ.