The counter-proposal from the education unions: from 500 euros more salary to 6,000 staff reinforcements

BarcelonaThe day after a first meeting that allowed the ice to break between the Department of Education and the educational unions in the search for a formula to stop protests in the sector, the majority union USTEC, together with Secondary School Teachers and CGT, have made their counter-proposal public. At this Thursday's meeting, the union organizations will put on the table that Education updates salaries according to the CPI and approves a progressive universal bonus for the entire collective, which will mean that, by 2029, primary school teachers will have gone on to earn 478 euros more per month and secondary school teachers, 544 euros more. Regarding the system's conditions, they will demand an agreement to increase staff by 6,400 new positions. Although it does not appear in the document, USTEC and CGT have insisted that this reinforcement would be mainly aimed at improving inclusive education.

the shock plan presented by the union in this areathe emergency plan that the union presented in this area.

From CGT, Glòria Xancó assured that they are “willing to come and negotiate as many days as necessary, but not to prolong the negotiation”. “We demand a proposal with all the demands”, she insisted. She also criticized that “money is being found from under the stones to expand the staff of the Mossos and with education there are always excuses”.

the commitment that teachers earn 3,000 euros gross more per yearPhased salary increase

In terms of salary, the three unions will demand that the Government ensure that the increase from bonuses affects teachers globally —both primary school teachers and secondary school teachers—, that it be staggered, and that it begins to be paid from the next academic year. On the other side of the table, Education was proposing to offer the option to improve –without clarifying in what terms– the payment of tutoring, co-tutoring, and bonuses for teachers in centers of maximum complexity, but the unions insist that the salary improvement must be for all teachers, without being linked to any position.

Specifically, the unions want a general salary increase of 6% this year and 4% over the next three years (4% in 2027, 4% in 2028, and 4% in 2029). For now, Education's offer consists of concentrating into three years –and not four, as initially agreed– the commitment that teachers earn 3,000 euros gross more per year. This figure would represent an increase of approximately 200 euros gross per month. And, still within the group of pay raises, the unions will also demand that school trips be paid as overtime and with a night work supplement.

The document, to which ARA has had access, also demands improvements in resources and conditions of the system, as well as in the curriculum. In the first case, they will call for a review of ratios and that no public school be closed, as well as an agreement to increase staffing by 6,400 new positions to strengthen inclusive education —although the term inclusive school does not appear at all in the publicly released document—. In this section, the Government has put on the table 2,500 new staff members for all of education, half of whom would go to strengthen inclusive schools; a figure very far from what the unions aspire to.

Regarding curricula, the unions will demand that they always be clear and structured and that they always be negotiated —including changes— between the administration and the schools. They also want Education to stop the reform of the baccalaureate curriculum to avoid the fusion of sciences, and to establish a timetable distribution of subjects agreed upon with professionals. Furthermore, they will also convey the need to review some aspects of the basic education decree.