MEXICO CITY (AP) — Workers at Mexico’s federal courts went on strike Monday against reforms that would require all judges to run for office.
Union workers at the court have placed chains and locks on the gates of several courthouses, saying the reforms proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador threaten their working conditions, benefits and wages.
But the employees also objected to reforms that would end the system in which judges and court employees gain experience and advance to higher positions.
It is not clear whether Mexico’s state courts, of which there are several, will be affected by the strike.
López Obrador’s reforms would allow virtually anyone with a law degree and a few years of experience as an attorney to run for office as a judge. Because his party has won large 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 will step down on September 30, says many judges in Mexico are corrupt and favor criminals.
But his administration has also botched many of the cases it brought to court and then blamed the judges.
The president regularly clashes with judges and has published the names of those with whom he disagrees.
López Obrador is known for his aversion to independent regulatory and supervisory bodies —most of which he wants to abolish. 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 court workers had been misled and that the reforms would not affect their salaries.
“They have the right to protest,” López Obrador. “The reform that is being proposed does not harm workers, but benefits them.”
