USTEC confirms that there will be a strike on the first day of the school year and Niubó asks for a "pause" in mobilizations

BarcelonaConfirmed. On the first day of this 2026/27 school year there will be a teachers' strike. This was announced by USTEC –the majority union within the education sector– and the CGT after meeting this Thursday morning with the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó. Upon leaving the meeting, where for the first time, members of the new Educational Assembly of Catalonia (AEC) were also invited, the spokesperson for USTEC, Iolanda Segura, criticized that, in the union's view, the Government is not members of the new Educational Assembly of Catalonia (AEC), yet willing to open a new cycle of negotiations to address the problems of public education. "They have not made us a proposal for a calendar of these meetings where we can negotiate [...], therefore, we invite the entire collective to join the strike to move towards the public school that our country needs and that our students need," argued Segura. For her part, from the CGT, the secretary general of the Federation of Education, Laura Gené, stated that the group's demands are clear and are "exactly the ones that existed" and that led to a "resounding no" to the May pre-agreement. "This is not about wages, this is about resources," she said.

Subsequently, Niubó also appeared to ask for "a vote of confidence" from teachers and unions and explained that they have asked the union forces to call off the strike. In addition, she also assured that they have committed to complying with the agreements reached in recent months and that they have put on the table "a work agenda" to address issues and to "maintain a fluid dialogue throughout the year". "To move forward, we need to do it with serenity and a constructive spirit and by abandoning tension," insisted Niubó, who has asked for "a pause" in the mobilizations.

The minister defended the improvements announced this same week by the department and insisted that the Government has put new resources in motion to deal with "years and years of neglected needs". "This Government knows the situation and the mood of the educational community and we share their demands to achieve the best public education for the students of the country," she insisted. In addition, she assured that the executive has made a "bet on the country" for education by dedicating an additional 2.6 billion euros to it.

Inclusive school, ratios and Catalan

"The conflict remains open. Negotiation must also remain so", insisted the USTEC in a statement. The union, however, has acknowledged the progress achieved last school year through negotiation –the measures of the pre-agreement with the Department of Education, such as salary improvements, have gone ahead, despite the no vote of the teachers in the consultation–, but it has warned that many improvements are still pending and that, furthermore, it is necessary to oversee that the improvements promised by the Government are fulfilled. "Fulfilling what has already been agreed upon is an obligation of the Government and cannot be used to consider the negotiation closed", they claimed from the majority union.

Regarding the specific demands that the USTEC is asking to negotiate, it proposes to reach up to 6% of the GDP for investment in education; to accelerate the reduction of ratios and limit over-ratios and late enrollment; to reinforce "much more" the resources for a truly inclusive education; that measures be taken to adapt centers to climate change and to "shield" Catalan as a "vehicular and cohesion" language. In addition, they also argue that a salary clause must be established for teachers that is linked to the CPI.

According to the majority union, faced with these demands, "the Government's response has been to continue referring to the agreements and measures already in deployment, without showing a willingness to open a new negotiating cycle". "September 8th is a first warning to the Government and the beginning of a new cycle of mobilization", they warned.