The sixth meeting between Education and unions ends without agreement, despite a new salary offer

BarcelonaThe sixth meeting between educational unions and the Government has ended, once again, without an agreement after a session that lasted more than three hours. Although the Department of Education has made a salary offer that would mean teachers earning about 355 euros more per month than now in four years, the unions have considered the proposal insufficient and have dug in their heels with the Government also over staff reinforcements aimed at improving inclusive education.

The meeting began more than an hour late, around four in the afternoon, with the AP-7 and A-2 cut off at various points in the country due to the teacher mobilization. This situation caused some tension at the start of negotiations, and in fact, upon leaving the table, the Secretary General of Educational Improvement, Ignasi Giménez, admitted that the department had not "explicitly" asked them to lift the blockades, but that the situation on the roads "did not help the meeting's atmosphere".

Once in the meeting, and according to USTEC's account, the Government put a new salary increase proposal on the table, which would consist of adding the new salary supplement for all teachers that was put on the table on Tuesday to the 200 euros per month already agreed with UGT and CCOO. However, an increase would have to be added after four years. This way, this same year they would already earn a bonus of 46 euros per month and in the fourth year, an additional 75 euros would be added. In summary, the proposal would mean that in four years, primary school teachers would earn 351 euros more than now and secondary school teachers, 356 euros more.

In addition, to this new proposal, the compensation for teachers who did not receive their six-year increments during the cutbacks – which Education had already put on the table – and which the unions had valued very positively, would have to be added. In fact, the spokesperson for USTEC, Iolanda Segura, admitted that "it is the first Government" to open up to this move.

New day of strike, with less follow-up"Inclusive education will not be a stumbling block," assured the secretary for educational improvement upon leaving the meeting. A meeting that the USTEC spokesperson described as "totally disappointing." Segura also criticized that they were not given a proposal on inclusive education and admitted that the salary offer seemed insufficient to them.

Bad blood between unions

Beyond the negotiations with the Government, one of the relevant points of this Wednesday's meeting has been the evident lack of harmony between the unions. In fact, USTEC and CGT have hinted that one of the obstacles to moving forward with the negotiations is the role of UGT and CCOO – the only two unions that signed the agreement with the Government in March – and they have assured that both union forces would be putting a spanner in the works when it comes to moving forward. For their part, UGT has issued a statement positively valuing the Government's salary offer and framing it within the agreement they signed a few months ago.

New day of strike, with less follow-up

The meeting took place after a new day of general strike in the education sector, the fourth stoppage since the beginning of the year. A day that, according to the assessment – from both the Department of Education and the unions – has lost strength compared to previous calls. The Government has put the strike participation at 28.74%, while the unions have put it at 60%. On the other hand, in the last stoppages, Education had admitted participation rates that bordered on 40% and the unions had raised it to 70 or 80%.

Despite the drop in participation, the protests spread throughout the country and, especially the decentralized road blockades, have meant that Wednesday's mobilization has had a significant impact on Catalans. On the AP-7 and A-2 there have been several blockades (in Torredembarra, Granollers, Girona and Lleida) that have lasted more than six hours and have forced Civil Protection to activate the Procicat in pre-alert phase to bring supplies to people who were trapped in their cars.

Regarding the demonstrations, they have been called throughout the country with 3,000 teachers mobilized in Girona and hundreds of teachers and professors who have taken to the streets of Tarragona and Lleida. In Barcelona, there was a slow march from Pla de Palau to Plaça Drassanes in which 7,000 protesters participated, according to the Guàrdia Urbana, 15,000 according to the calling unions. Although the demands have been the same as in recent months – salary improvements and more resources to support students –, on Wednesday's strike day, complaints about the heat in classrooms have been constant. "We're roasting," said one of the banners with a drawing of a rotisserie chicken, while others showed the temperature degrees their classrooms have reached in recent days, coinciding with the heatwave.