Judges and prosecutors in Spain threaten indefinite strike

Seven associations representing the legal professionals will call a strike from 16 May unless a better pay deal can be struck

Mateo Balín

Madrid

Tuesday, 25 April 2023, 11:57 | Updated 12:11h.

Around 8,000 judges and prosecutors in Spain are demanding better pay and will go on strike until their demands are met.

Five professional associations of judges and prosecutors announced they would go on strike from 16 May, just four days after the start of the campaign for the country's municpal elections on 28 May.

The Professional Association of the Judiciary, Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association, Independent Judicial Forum, Judges for Democracy, the Association of Prosecutors, Progressive Union of Prosecutors and Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors have joined forces to put pressure on the government to negotiate a pay deal.

In a joint statement, they said the budget allocated to staffing expenditure in the Justice department for 2023 was “insufficient”.

Of the 2.3 billion euros, 7.8% more than the previous year, salary accounted for 1.785 billion, about 75% of the total, which represented a net increase of 139 million, 8.4% more than 2022.

They said the workload due to a "high level of litigation" impacted on both the quality and speed of the judicial response and the health of the workers.

They also criticised that the Justice department, led by Pilar Llop, called off pay negotiations last October “without explanation” after months of talks.

There had been negotiation meetings on 31 March and 4 April in which "no progress was made". The next meeting was scheduled for 3 May, but the associations of judges and prosecutors said there was "no guarantee" they would reach an outcome.

A career judge who has just joined a court and who belongs to group A1 has a basic salary of about 3,300 euros gross per month.

The threat of more strikes comes after lawyers and civil servants protested for higher salaries and had their demands met earlier this year.

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