Justice on hold: Mexico City court strike extended

Mexico City's justice system is in a state of near-total paralysis. For nearly three weeks, thousands of workers in the Mexico City Judicial Branch (PJCDMX) have maintained an indefinite work stoppage that has frozen thousands of legal proceedings, while negotiations with authorities remain stalled.

A large-scale labor dispute has put the administration of justice in the nation's capital in jeopardy. Since early June, access to the main courts and offices of the PJCDMX (Mexico City Justice Department) has been blocked by its own workers, who are demanding answers to a list of demands they claim has been ignored for years.

The strike, which affects thousands of citizens and trial lawyers, has escalated due to the lack of concrete agreements between protesters and the court administration, creating a judicial backlog that will take months to resolve.

What Are Workers Demanding? The Keys to the Conflict

The workers' movement is organized around four main demands, which reflect deep discontent with their working conditions and union representation:

* Decent Wage Increase: They are demanding a significant salary increase, with figures ranging from 7% to 10%, arguing that their salaries have lost purchasing power.

* Better Working Conditions: They complain of work overload and demand the hiring of more qualified personnel to reduce the accumulated backlog, as well as improved supplies and furniture.

* Union Renewal: One of the most forceful demands is the resignation of the current leader of the majority union, Diego Valdez Medina, whom they accuse of not representing their interests.

* Guarantees against Retaliation: They require a written commitment that there will be no layoffs or salary cuts for those participating in the strike.

Deadlocked Negotiations

The dialogue between the workers and the PJCDMX authorities, led by Chief Justice Rafael Guerra, have failed to resolve the conflict. The court's administration has called for a return to work, promising not to apply deductions for strike days and to address the demands gradually.

However, the workers have rejected these offers, describing them as "declarative goodwill, but without results." Distrust is the main obstacle. The protesters argue that they have already given votes of confidence in the past without seeing their commitments fulfilled and compare their situation to that of other unions, such as the teachers' union, which have received quicker responses to their demands.

"Goodwill has often been merely declarative, but without results. (…) The worker base no longer trusts promises." – Statement from the PJCDMX workers.

The Real Impact: Thousands of Lives in Legal Limbo

The most serious consequence of this strike is the de facto suspension of the justice system for thousands of residents of the capital. The impact is felt on multiple levels:

* Frozen Trials: All deadlines for presenting evidence, responding to lawsuits, and conducting legal proceedings have been suspended.

* Postponed Hearings: Hundreds of hearings, including those of people in pretrial detention, have been postponed indefinitely.

* Urgent Cases are Delivered in Drips: Although there are on-call staff to handle extremely urgent cases, such as domestic violence, the response capacity is minimal.

This paralysis not only delays justice, but also denies it to those who depend on a judicial resolution to resolve family disputes, debts, property disputes, or even their own freedom. Until an agreement based on trust and concrete commitments is reached, the scales of justice in Mexico City will remain immobile.