Colombia’s 27-day judicial strike will end next week, announced the Minister of Justice.
After a series of meetings on Tuesday night with representatives of the judicial workers union, Colombia’s Minister of Justice Ruth Stella Correa announced that the near month long strike will end next Wednesday, reports El Espectador.
Nearly 96% of the country’s courts and over 100,000 cases were affected by the strike. The sticking points for the protestors were an increased judicial budget and higher, more equitable salaries. According to the President of the Corporation of Judges and Magistrates, a huge pay gap existed between lower level magistrates and high level judges, a problem that had gone unresolved for almost twenty years.
Reportedly, the agreement will increase the judicial budget to $667 million from 2013-2018. In addition to the cash influx which will allow for wage equalization, a new committee will also be created in order to strategically allocate the money over the five-year period. The committee will be comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Justice, Labor, and the Judicial branch.
“This is a victory for the entire labor movement…It is a victory for the Colombian working class,” said Union President Luis Fernando Otalvaro.