Overview
- Federal judicial employees launched a strike and protests on Friday that have closed or limited operations in at least 17 states and disrupted hearings and citizen services.
- The walkout follows the Órgano de Administración Judicial’s agreement published on November 5 that sets a performance review process with a December diagnostic exam and later evaluations.
- Workers object to the scoring design that gives roughly 40% weight to a written exam and the remainder to subjective assessments by supervisors and peers, which they say could be used to justify dismissals.
- The OAJ has said the December test is diagnostic, will not cause immediate job losses, and offered dialogue, but unions and the Association of Magistrates (JUFED) insist the agreement must be revoked and demand guarantees and continuous training.
- Beyond the immediate stoppages, the dispute could delay cases and push wider reforms over how the judicial career is managed, since the OAJ cites constitutional and statutory authority for evaluations while staff warn of long-term threats to stability.