Overview
- Workers across at least 17 states launched coordinated paros and street blockades that began on Friday, Nov. 6, closing dozens of federal court sedes and disrupting hearings and filings.
- The OAJ published the evaluation agreement in the Diario Oficial on Nov. 5 and says the first round of tests set for December is diagnostic, will not cause immediate dismissals, and remains on the timetable.
- Unions and local sections demand the agreement be left without effect, insist that formal training come before any exams, and warn the stoppage could extend or become indefinite if the OAJ does not back down.
- The evaluation combines training, a knowledge exam and supervisors’ appraisals but reporting shows disputed weightings (commonly cited as exam 40% in some accounts and 60% in others), fueling distrust over subjectivity and potential use against staff.
- The dispute involves thousands of career judicial employees (coverage estimates range from about 32,000 to over 40,000), rests on constitutional and Ley de Carrera Judicial authority cited by the OAJ, and could prolong service delays while negotiations and possible remedial training are worked out.