"Negotiation or resignation": almost half of teachers go on strike to demand a new agreement from the Government

"Either negotiation or resignation." This has been the main message repeated by the 35,000 teachers and professors – 100,000 according to the organizers – who demonstrated this Friday in Barcelona to show their rejection of the agreement that the Government signed with CCOO and UGT to improve teachers' working conditions and the situation in classrooms. Their refusal has resulted in what the unions have called a "total strike": almost half of the teachers (43.77%) have joined the strike – although the unions put this percentage as high as 85%. This figure is slightly higher than the participation reported by the Department of Education during the last strike the sector staged in Catalonia last February, when the final tally was 40.94%.

The teachers' protest has made its presence felt throughout the country, with blockades on access roads to Barcelona and other main thoroughfares early this morning, several slow marches and columns through the streets mid-morning, and a final demonstration in Plaça Tetuán. This culminated in a sea of ​​yellow-clad teachers surrounding the Parliament building, with the organizing unions (USTEC, the Secondary Education Union, the CGT, and the Intersindical) urging the government to meet at 10:00 AM on Tuesday at the University of Barcelona to reopen negotiations. "There is no other way than negotiation with the teachers," insisted Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for USTEC, from the stage that the organizers had set up on Passeig Lluís Companys, which was overflowing with teachers. "If they don't sit down to negotiate, we will bring down the government," the thousands of teachers who emptied their classrooms this Friday concluded. The unions entered the Catalan Parliament to meet with representatives from ERC, Junts, Comuns, and the CUP. Upon leaving, they stated that "if the Catalan government doesn't rectify the situation," they will hold a third term "with ongoing mobilization." They criticized the PSC for refusing to meet with them in the impromptu meetings following the protest and called on the other parliamentary groups to "pressure the government to return to the negotiating table." They warned that without a change, "the school year will not end normally." Despite the scale of this week's teachers' mobilization, the Department of Education has chosen not to issue any statement. The government, however, has insisted that it is "always" willing "to sit down at the table." However, this willingness to talk with the unions does not imply any modification to the agreed-upon terms. As the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, explained in an interview with ARA, Salvador Illa's government "is willing to listen to everyone and talk to everyone, but the agreement is what's on the table." Beyond this message, the Catalan government has also not responded to the unions' demands to meet with President Illa and Minister Dalmau next week.

"Nobody has asked us"

"The agreement reached is a pittance, and nobody consulted us," complained Marta, a teacher from a school in the Terres de l'Ebre region, from one of the columns marching toward the demonstration. She insisted that the government's agreement "is insufficient" and that before signing it, "the teachers' union should have been heard." As happened during the strike on February 11, the sight of families wearing yellow t-shirts to demand improvements in classrooms was repeated in the streets. "It's a struggle that our children also have to experience," explained Isabel, a teacher from Castellfollit de la Roca who had come to the demonstration with her two children and her partner. In their case, they decided to go down to the train station on Thursday night. "We knew there would be disruptions, and you can't trust Renfe (the national railway company)," the children's father admitted.

Beyond demanding salary increases, lower student-teacher ratios, and more resources – "we're short-staffed," warned Laura, who asserted that more than half of the 30 students in her classroom need extra help – many of the messages at Friday's demonstration were directed squarely at the Minister of Education. In fact, the first slogan of the demonstration was "Isla, if this continues, it will take its toll." During the protest, chants such as "Niubó, listen, this is a revolt" and "Niubó, resign" were also heard, directed at the Minister of Education, who has been on medical leave for weeks.

Doctors too

Hundreds of doctors marched this Friday from Hospital del Mar to Ciutadella Park, marking the ninth day of their strike since October—and the second this week—to demand a separate collective bargaining agreement, distinct from that of other healthcare professionals. The doctors are calling for "genuine dialogue" with political leaders and "structural measures" to address the excessive workload and exhaustion within the profession. The Doctors of Catalonia union, the largest among physicians and the organizer of the strike, laments that the Catalan Health Department continues to "ignore" them. Upon reaching the vicinity of the Catalan Parliament, the doctors waited to greet the thousands of teachers who brought Barcelona to a standstill this Friday. According to the Health Department, 6.7% of the doctors participated in the strike. Speaking to reporters, the general secretary of Doctors of Catalonia, Xavier Lleonart, warned that the conflict "will not end until there is direct and genuine negotiation with the administration to improve one of the basic pillars of the welfare state." The strike, called nationwide by the Spanish Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM), aims to limit family doctors' schedules to 25 appointments, reform the on-call system and subsequent rest periods, increase hourly on-call pay, and lower the retirement age.