Justice offers judges and prosecutors 44 million euros to avoid the strike on May 16

Associations say that they will study the offer for the meeting on Monday: "It is not time for satisfaction yet"

The Ministry of Justice has presented this Wednesday a proposal in which it offers judges and prosecutors a package of about 44 million euros to improve their remuneration, with the intention of unblocking the conflict and avoiding the indefinite strike that five of the seven associations have summoned as of May 16 in search of a "reasonable" salary update due to "the loss of purchasing power" that they say has been dragging on since 2009. It is expected that they will sit again at the Remuneration Table next Monday, at 11:30 a.m. .

Sources close to the negotiation have indicated to Europa Press that Pilar Llop's team has delivered the document to the associations this afternoon after a first contact of almost three hours this morning and almost two this afternoon, in which judges and prosecutors have met shown "optimistic" with regard to a possible agreement.

The same sources have specified that the offer of some 44 million euros is currently insufficient, because said figure would represent 6% of the loss of purchasing power of judges and prosecutors, when the associations have already denounced the loss of both careers It has been close to 20%.

In line, Justice and the Treasury have offered judicial and prosecutorial career associations a relevant role in the implementation of the three efficiency laws, which are in the final phase of their parliamentary process and which are part of the Justice 2030 plan. , as reported by the Ministry in a statement.

At the end of the meeting, Juan José Carbonero, of the Professional Association of the Magistracy (APM), has indicated that they are in a negotiation framework in which positions are already beginning to take shape. "It is time for reflection. Right now it is time to study and assess what is on the table on one side as well as on the other," he said in statements to the press.

Asked if they are satisfied with the proposal, Carbonero has stressed that they will have to assess the document and continue with the negotiation. "It is a beginning, it is not time for satisfaction yet", he added.

For her part, Inés Herreros, from the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF), has assured at the exit that she remains "optimistic" because they are in a space for negotiation. After the first session in the morning, she indicated that the meeting had "developed very normally", in an "affable" and "calm" atmosphere, while celebrating the presence of the General Secretary of Public Function.

"We are working, sharing a diagnosis on how the Administration of Justice is and we are going to continue," he stressed, to later recall that "the Compensation Table, effectively and with results, has never been had", so They have "a situation of paralysis for 20 years".

"It probably won't be what we want, but we hope it will be the closest to what we want and the least close to what the government offers, which is the initial position," Herreros said.

As sources present at the meeting have indicated to Europa Press, Minister Llop has approached the Remuneration Table to greet those present during the morning session.

PROPOSAL FOR RISE OF THE CGPJ

The meeting on Wednesday was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Justice and Finance, the State Attorney General's Office (FGE), the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) and professional associations for, as established by law , "facilitate the periodic adaptation of the remuneration of the members of the judicial and fiscal careers".

On behalf of the CGPJ, the members José Antonio Ballestero, Gerardo Martínez Tristán and Juan Martínez Moya have participated to propose -as agreed by the plenary session of the body- to update the salaries of the judges, although they have not put a specific proposal on the table .

Thus, from the CGPJ they have aligned themselves with the criteria of three of the four judicial associations --the APM, the AJFV and FJI-- that have already formalized the call for an indefinite strike due to "the need for a reasonable remuneration update and adaptation" due to "the loss of purchasing power" that they say has been dragging on since 2009.

It should be remembered that, initially, the Association of Judges and Judges for Democracy (JJpD) and that of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF) indicated that they shared the diagnosis and the need for improvements to overcome the "current stagnation" of the system court, but they distanced themselves from the threat of a strike by considering it "opportune" to wait for the meeting on Wednesday.

Sources close to the negotiation have specified to Europa Press that the designated representatives of the CGPJ have also left the first part of this meeting with "optimism", considering that this first contact has been "satisfactory" and they hope that an agreement can be reached soon. an agreement to avoid the strike of judges and prosecutors.

Faced with the movement of the governing body of the judges, the Independent Professional Association of Prosecutors (APIF) asked the State Attorney General's Office to make a public statement, highlighting the "essential work that Spanish prosecutors do", and that -- in line with the position adopted by the CGPJ-- also pronounce in favor of the legitimacy of the remuneration claims raised by tax associations.

From the State Attorney General's Office, although they have not positioned themselves with the same firmness as the CGPJ, they have addressed the entire prosecutorial career internally to advance that they will support "the application of specific provisions" on salary updating, defending that the regulation of the remuneration regime is a "configuring element of its economic independence".

On the sidelines, from the Associations of Lawyers of the Administration of Justice (LAJ) that led that body to strike, and achieved better pay, they have issued a statement in which they stress that it is "necessary and opportune" for the Government to attend to the main claims of judges and prosecutors considering that they are "reasonable".