2023-05-18 23:22:00
Juan José Carbonero, spokesman for the Professional Association of the Magistracy, this Thursday after leaving the meeting at the Ministry of Justice. Gustavo Valiente | EUROPAPRESS
Only the Professional Association of the Magistracy, the majority in the race, distances itself for now from the agreement, which will be signed on Tuesday
18 may 2023 . Updated at 11:23 p.m.
Finally, there will be an economic agreement with judges and prosecutors, although for now it will not be signed by all those who sat down at the remuneration table this May to negotiate with the Government to update their salaries. The Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM), the majority in the judicial career, maintains its rejection, previously announced, of the proposal of 46.7 million euros put forward by the negotiators from the Ministries of Justice and Finance. In practice, this offer means an increase of 450 euros per month in each payroll of the more than eight thousand judges and prosecutors who practice in Spain. The agreement reached yesterday entails the cancellation of the strike that was to begin next Monday, the 22nd.
The Government reached the fifth meeting of the remuneration commission with the only support of two associations, Judges and Judges for Democracy (JJpD) and the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF), which already last week were willing to accept the agreement and that from the beginning they distanced themselves from the threat of a strike. But in the last hours, the Justice and Finance negotiators obtained the support of the other associations: Independent Judicial Forum (IJF), Association of Prosecutors (AF), Judicial Association Francisco de Vitoria (AFJV) and Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF).
The Executive recalled that the proposal put forward by the Ministries of Justice and the Treasury and Civil Service entails salary improvements for the judicial and fiscal careers, in addition to signifying a significant increase in the staff of both bodies, since there is a commitment to reinforce the public service of Justice with the creation of 200 new posts for judges and prosecutors that will become effective between this year and 2024. Likewise, the authorization of a new framework of relations between the associations and the Government is offered, which will be characterized by continuity and dialogue, with the creation of permanent working groups that will They meet at least once a month.
Following the commitments reached at yesterday’s meeting, the parties have met again to the official signing of the agreement next Tuesday, May 23, at one in the afternoon. The Government maintains the wish that the economic proposal be also signed by the only association that has not, for the moment, pronounced itself definitively, in the forum of the remuneration committee, in reference to the majority and influential APM.
The agreement will be for everyone
At the end of the meeting this Thursday, Edmundo Rodríguez, from Judges for Democracy, highlighted the agreement reached: We have just finished the text that will be signed next Tuesday. We have reached an agreement with six of the seven associations together with the Government and the other representatives. Asked if the agreement will be for everyone even if it does not ultimately have the unanimous support of the associations, Rodríguez explained that the pact will be submitted to the Council of Ministers and that, once approved, it will affect the entire judicial and prosecutorial career.
The majority association of judges rejects the increase of 450 euros per month offered by the Government as insufficient
Jose Manuel Pan
On behalf of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors, its president, Ins Herreros, assured that the document will mean improvements of a retributive nature, while wanted to convey to citizens a message of calm as the indefinite strike of judges and prosecutors had been avoided. For her part, Cristina Dexeus, from the Association of Prosecutors (AF), assured that, although they will sign the agreement reached with the ministry, this is not the pact they would have wanted.
The APM spokesman: I am still in negotiations
I am still in negotiation; the others seem not to, that they have already reached the end of the negotiation. The spokesman for the Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM), Juan José Carbonero, expressed this clearly yesterday, after the rest of the associations communicated their decision to sign the agreement with the representatives of the ministries of Justice and Finance and Public function. To this day, what is on the table does not satisfy the majority associationassured Carbonero to justify the refusal of his group to sign the document presented by the Executive to the seven associations of the judicial and fiscal careers.
Asked if the APM will strike on its own After distancing himself from the agreement of most of the associations, Carbonero recalled that his group had not set a date for a new strike after the postponement of the one announced for the 16th. He preferred to see how the negotiations evolved before setting a specific day. And he answered: I do not rule out anything. In any case, I pointed out that there is time to approach positions until next Tuesday, which is the day on which the Government and the associations will stage the signing of the agreement in Madrid.
The Government does not give more money to judges and prosecutors, but offers 200 new positions
Jose Manuel Pan
However, despite the fact that there is indeed time left for a last-minute agreement, the truth is that It seems increasingly difficult for this association to join the other six and sign a pact in the Ministry of Justice. There is a lot of discomfort, acknowledge sources from this association, who do not understand how the government negotiators have not modified the proposal that was already made to them last week. From the outset, the Professional Association of the Magistracy showed its rejection of the financial offer from the representatives of the Ministries of Justice and Finance, considering it insufficient and unacceptable. In an internal document, the majority group of the judicial career explained to its associates that the 46.7 million euros offered by the Government do not allow them to recover even half of the purchasing power lost since 2003 or the salary cut of more than 10%. suffered in 2010.
I was waiting for a new offer
Despite the fact that it has now distanced itself from the decision made by the other representatives of judges and prosecutors, the APM always went hand in hand with the other associations and signed joint communiqués in which it was recognized that they had found a negotiating attitude on the part of the Ministries of Justice and Finance. But things have changed, especially since the meeting on May 10, which was where the suspension of the strike on the 16th was agreed. This association did not agree with what was agreed upon by the others, and in fact it was the last in accepting a new meeting. From the powerful APM they assured that the Secretary of State for Justice, Tontxu Rodríguez, had committed the presentation of a new offer in exchange for the suspension of the strike.
But the new meeting arrived and there was no new offerwhich created discomfort, embodied in this reflection: As we said then, and ratify now, this proposal seems insufficient and unassumable to us, and we can only regret that there is no change in the attitude of the Ministries of Justice and Finance.
The agreement, which will be signed on Tuesday, includes the creation of 200 places in both races
The Government document that will be signed on Tuesday by the six associations that committed themselves at the remuneration committee meeting is based on the increase that updates the salaries in the judicial and fiscal careers. According to that economic document, judges and prosecutors will have an average increase of between 440 and 450 euros per payroll to be perceived gradually. 40%, with retroactive effects from January 1; the other 40%, on January 1, 2024, while the remaining 20% will be paid on July 1 of the same year. This increase will be applied to payrolls as a destination supplement for representation and will be received by all judges and prosecutors.
7% increase
In the document, the Government explains that the offer represents an average increase of 7% on the individual salaries of judges and prosecutors, which is in addition to the 8% approved in October 2022 in an agreement that contemplates salary increases to be developed between 2022 and 2024 for the entire administration.
In addition to the economic aspects, the Government recognizes that the new efficiency laws will imply an adjustment of the workloads of judges and prosecutors through the judicial organization, so it is necessary to strengthen the staff in the short term. In this way, the Executive will approve the creation of 200 posts for judges and prosecutors, which will be implemented between this year and 2024.
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