SCOTLAND's busiest courts are braced for the latest in a series of rolling strikes.
Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh sheriff courts were among those expected to suffer most as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) organised a walk-out today (Mon), their busiest day of the week.
The action - timed to coincide with hearings from custody for hundreds of people detained over the weekend - will also affect prisons, the Crown Office and Prosecutor Fiscal Service and other justice organisations.
Staff insiders believe some cases will have to be adjourned and juries sent home because paperwork cannot be processed or prisoners transferred.
The action comes as smaller courts across Scotland are closed in a major cost-cutting exercise that current Justice Secretary Michael Matheson inherited from his predecessor Kenny MacAskill.
Officials hope the consolidation will save money and boost efficiency.
Lynn Henderson, PCS Scottish Secretary, however, said change was putting huge strain on workers.
She said "Ours members are dedicated to delivering fair justice and high quality services to the people of Scotland, at times under very difficult circumstances for very little reward.
"The new Justice Secretary should use any whatever influence he has to feed back into Cabinet discussions on the budget that civil and public servants can no longer put up with job cuts and re-organisations and carry the impact of austerity cuts in their pockets with pay freezes and pay restraint."
Courts in at Haddington in East Lothian; Peebles and Duns in the Borders; and Dingwall in the Highlands are scheduled to close this week.
There are also substantial changes being made in the prison service.
Monday's strikes are part of a rolling programme by PCS members throughout devolved administration. The union has rejected a 1% cap on pay rises after what it calls a "relentless increase in workloads" as staff who leave are not replaces.
The PCS said the strike would affect the staff at sheriff courts in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Hamilton, Greenock and Edinburgh; and the Supreme Courts in Edinburgh. Fully 173 criminal cases are scheduled to call on Monday at Glasgow Sheriff Court alone.
The High Court in Glasgow, where a man accused of raping a toddler at an Inverness-shire nursery is due to appear, is not one of the courts targeted.
The PCS said the strike had also been called at the Crown Office HQs in Edinburgh and Glasgow; the fiscals' office at Edinburgh Sheriff Court; Shotts, Barlinnie, Low Moss and Glenochill prisons; Polmont Young Offenders Institution; and the Risk Management Authority.
A union source said: "We expect the strike to be solid."
The Scottish Courts Service has warned of potential disruption but stressed it did not know how badly it would be affected.
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