Court clerks consider strike over low pay | iRADIO

Court employees say they earn less than other civil servants. When Julie Grosmanová joined the regional court a few years ago as a recorder, she earned 18,000 kroner net per month.

“I’ve improved a bit now. You can’t make a living with it, especially in Prague. High rent, high energy, I’m not even talking about food. It’s not easy,” he describes.

Due to low salaries, the justice unions have declared a strike alert, says their chairperson Anna Pospíšilová.

“Generally, all people compare salaries in the judiciary with the salaries of judges, but that cannot be compared at all. For example, the starting salary of a registrar is 17,000 gross and must be paid in addition to the guaranteed salary,” explains Pospíšilová. This makes him about 21,000 gross.

For some officials, salaries are already unbearable. Therefore, some are leaving the courts because of money, such as the Municipal Court in Prague, where most of the reporting clerks who work in the criminal department have resigned in recent months.

They have 27 tables, twelve of them work there now. According to information, another official will leave the court in the near future. There is a danger that there will be no one to take official records of the meeting. A court cannot function without officials.

Demotivating salaries

Even because of the unattractive salary, the court fails to find a replacement. This is also pointed out by the employees of the District Court for Prague 6, who wrote a letter to the Minister of Justice Pavlo Blažek from the ODS.

“Salaries are demotivating even for existing employees, when they are not even rated average for really responsible, psychologically demanding and important work,” they wrote in the letter.

According to Radiožurnál, the Minister of Justice received more such letters.

Blažek wants to continue acting. And he thinks that thanks to this, it will still be possible to avert the protests. But if the officials went on strike, it would be a serious signal to the government, he said.

“During the two years that I have been in office, salaries have been raised. However, I understand the employees are not completely satisfied. A strike is something I would not be comfortable with, however they have the right to do so. But hopefully it won’t come to that, hopefully we will be able to find some solutions and also mutual understanding,” says Blažek.

According to the Ministry of Justice, in 2021 court employees took an average of about 33,000 crowns, last year it was just under 37,000 crowns. According to the minister, the resort does not have the money for further salary increases.

“This state is saving, but in the wrong place. It is not possible for people to come, graduates, and then go elsewhere at the first opportunity, because the salary conditions are better everywhere else,” criticizes Radek Vondráček, member of the opposition ANO movement and chairman of the parliamentary constitutional and legal committee.

Blažek still wants to negotiate with representatives of officials and the Ministry of Finance.

What about the judges?

The judges’ union supported a possible strike. The Vice President of the Supreme Court, Petr Šuk, also stands behind the staff. According to him, the situation has never been so tense.

“It will probably be a very unusual situation. Perhaps for the first time in the history of strikes, we as employers will keep our fingers crossed for our employees to be successful,” comments Šuk.

Last year, Vice President Šuk negotiated with the Minister of Finance that the employees of the courts received an increase of about 1,500 crowns gross per month. According to the agreement, salaries are to continue to rise. But according to the unions, this is not enough.

Trade unionists still want to wait for the ministry’s response. Then they would eventually call a one-day strike.

Marie Veselá

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