STRN calls nationwide strike from 8 to 13 June

The Union of Registration and Notarial Workers (STRN) has decided to call a nationwide strike from 8 to 13 June and has already submitted its strike notice to the Government.

STRN nationwide strike over registration services

In a statement, the STRN accused the Government of “maintaining a situation regarded as unlawful, unfair and unsustainable in the registration sector”, as it continues to reject the agreement advocated by the union, thereby leaving “the sector on the verge of collapse”.

The union representing registration and notarial workers also said there was an “absence of solutions to the structural problems affecting registration services across the country”.

In the strike notice submitted to the Government, the STRN sets out 11 demands. These include “an emergency recruitment drive for the missing number of registration registrars and registration officers” and compliance with the Ombudsman’s recommendation to remove pay disparities.

For the STRN, the staffing crisis is severe: there is a shortfall of 279 registration registrars and 2731 registration officers, representing 38% and 55%, respectively, of the workforce required.

Staffing shortages and decline in public services

The planned strike is intended to draw attention to the deterioration of the public service being delivered because of “lack of investment and Government inaction”, said STRN president Arménio Maximino in the same statement. He added that the union opposes “the continuation of the marked deterioration that has been occurring, as well as the fact that citizens are not being assisted in private, which constitutes a clear breach of the GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation]”.

The STRN also said that the Government intends to abolish the specialist registration officer grade, “despite the fact that the PSD, currently in government, denounced the same practice in 2023 that it is now seeking to consolidate”, according to the statement.

Beyond this change, the union claimed that the Government plans to “maintain a savings model at the expense of citizens’ and workers’ rights”, even though the measures demanded by the STRN account for 0,49% of the IRN’s annual revenue.

“This situation is incompatible with even a minimally functioning public service. The STRN warns that this shortage of professionals has caused significant delays in the delivery of services relating to property, commercial, vehicle and civil registrations, as well as nationality,” the statement further reads.

In April, the STRN had already given the Government ten days to examine and analyse the proposed agreement. At that time, it did not rule out strike action if no understanding was reached, and warned that registration and notarial delays would worsen over the summer. The union also presented a contingency plan to clear the backlog.