Employees at Mexico’s federal courts go on strike over reforms that make judges stand for election

MEXICO CITY (news agencies) — Employees at Mexico’s federal courts went on strike Monday over reforms that would make all judges stand for election.

Unionized court employees put chains and locks on the gates at several courthouses, saying the reforms proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador would threaten their working conditions, benefits and salaries.

But the employees also objected to reforms that would eliminate the system by which judges and court employees accumulate experience and move up to higher positions.

It wasn’t clear whether any of Mexico’s state courts — which are more numerous — would be affected by the strike.

López Obrador’s reforms would allow just about anyone with a law degree and a few years experience as a lawyer to be elected as a judge. Because his party has won big majorities in recent elections, judges who are elected may be more sympathetic to his administration or that of his successor, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.

López Obrador, who leaves office Sept. 30, says many judges in Mexico are corrupt and favor criminals.

But his administration has also botched many of the cases it brings to court and then blamed the judges.

The president has frequently sparred with judges, publishing the names of those whose rulings he disagrees with.

López Obrador is known for his dislike of independent regulatory and oversight agencies — most of which he wants to eliminate. Critics say the judicial reforms are aimed at weakening the independence of the judiciary and eliminating checks and balances on the president’s power.

On Monday, López Obrador said the court employees had been misled, and that the reforms wouldn’t affect their wages.

“They are within their rights to protest,” López Obrador. “The reform that is being proposed does not hurt workers, rather it benefits them.”