Notaries/ conservatories/ Citizens’ spaces on major go-slow

Just as people thought it was ‘safe to go back into the fully-functioning world’ (afer the double whammy of a general strike, followed by a national holiday), STRN – the syndicate of registrars and notaries – has gone into a huddle for the day, and will be striking for the whole of next week.

The huddle is essentially for a day-long ‘virtual plenary’ – meaning a meeting, taking place during working hours, and meaning that most IRN (institute of registrars and notaries) premises are either closed, or working even more slowly than usual.

A statement sent out to newsrooms has explained that the virtual plenary has received “an extraordinary number of adhesions”, in spite of the fact that it is taking place over a 12-hour period (8am to 8pm). It will be considering various aspects of IRN business, as well as “forms of struggle that could be adopted over the coming days”.

The back-story here is that STRN and its members are fed up with what they term “postponements, uncertainties and empty promises”: the government is accused of “maintaining a situation considered illegal, unfair, and unsustainable in the registry sector”, by dint of the fact that “there is a shortage of 279 registrars, 2,731 registry officers – equivalent to 38% and 55% of the necessary staff to carry out work, respectively”.

Another statistic added to the statement is the fact that, on average, 30 IRN professionals retire each month, “but are not replaced (…) STRN warns that this lack of professionals has caused significant delays in the provision of services in the areas of real estate, commercial, automobile and civil registries, as well as nationality – which directly and negatively impacts the lives of citizens, and the activity of companies”.

STRN and the Ministry of Justice were reportedly ‘close to reaching an agreement (over pay increases) in April.

At the time, STRN “extended the negotiation for 10 days and the agreement was for “0.49% per year”. However, the proposal was not accepted by the ministry led by Rita Júdice, which led to the decision to go on strike” next week.

Source material: Diário de Notícias

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.