The general secretary of the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), said this Friday that the adherence to the teachers’ strike is “extraordinary” and that only minimum services are being fulfilled, which the union classifies as “forced labor” and “illegal”.
“Considering what is happening, the teachers are at the door and those who go to work are the ones who are forced to do forced labor, this forced labor is the way the government found to try to reduce the effects of the strike. What I can say is that, like yesterday, the teachers in general are only performing the minimum services, which in our opinion is illegal and the fight in the courts has already begun”, said Mário Nogueira to Lusa, after having been with the teachers in front of the Primary School 2.3 of Marrazes, in Leiria.
Non-teaching workers from all over the country and teachers from districts south of Leiria are on strike today to demand better working conditions and salaries, and the creation of specific careers.
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For the teachers, the two-day strike called by a platform of nine union organizations, including the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) and the National Federation of Education (FNE), the most representative of the sector, continues.
According to the general secretary of Fenprof, in some schools minimum services are being imposed that go beyond what is established in the ruling that supports them.
“It’s strange that the Ministry of Education, in its evaluation of the strike, has sent a platform to the schools, which is filled out in such a way that the minimum services are not taken into account. It considers the minimum services as not being a strike, which is not true, because the teachers are doing the minimum services and as soon as they finish them, they stop working and go on strike. It is wrong that the survey is done in this way, considering that those who are doing the minimum services are not on strike, which is not true,” said Mário Nogueira.
Schools must provide minimum services, as ordered on Monday by the Court of Arbitration, which considered that this teachers’ strike “cannot be seen as a one-day strike that will only cause the usual and legitimate inconveniences that any strike always causes,” but rather as “another strike in a series of strikes that, taken as a whole, already threaten to jeopardize the right to education.
According to the decision, the teachers will have to guarantee three hours of classes in the preschool and 1st cycle, as well as three hours of classes per day in the 2nd and 3rd cycle and in the high school, in order to guarantee the weekly coverage of the different subjects.
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Following the Arbitration Council’s decision, the nine unions announced that they would jointly file a lawsuit against the minimum services in court.
This Friday, Mário Nogueira told Lusa that the motives for the teachers’ struggle continue, with two demonstrations already planned for Saturday, in Lisbon and Porto, to contest the competitive examination regime that is “on the table”.
“Because we don’t agree, we have already asked for an additional negotiation for the 9th at 10:30 a.m. at the Ministry of Education. We’re going to do everything we can to change the most negative aspects, which are the red lines that the Ministry has known from the beginning and doesn’t want to give up, but also the exceeding of ties, the exile of many teachers to hundreds of kilometers, the length of service, vacancies and evaluation quotas,” he said.
Non-teaching staff strike with over 85% adherence
The strike of non-teaching workers has an adhesion of more than 85%, although schools remain open due to minimum services, according to data from the National Federation of Unions of Workers in Public and Social Functions (FNSTFPS).
“The impact of today’s strike is the same as the other strikes, it is over 85%. The workers are on strike, but since minimum services have been called for another strike, called by a union opportunist, these people have to be in schools,” told Lusa Artur Sequeira, the National Federation of Unions of Workers in Public and Social Functions (FNSTFPS).
Artur Sequeira’s criticism, made today in front of the António Arroio Art School in Lisbon, was directed at the Union of All Education Professionals (STOP), which began a strike of teachers and non-teaching staff on December 9.
In response to this strike, the Ministry of Education demanded the implementation of minimum services, which were accepted by the Arbitration Board, which decided that schools must provide three hours of classes per day for students, in addition to meals or guaranteeing the safety of students inside schools.
For Artur Sequeira, this measure forces the presence of workers who are currently in the schools, but who are protesting for measures such as salary increases, the creation of a specific career, which was abolished in 2008, or the return of these workers to the Ministry of Education, as happens with teachers.
“The workers all belong to the municipal councils, but they work in the schools, which can mean that they are here one day and in the municipal cemetery the next,” explained Artur Sequeira, stressing that the work of the non-teaching workers in the schools also requires special training, since they work with children and adolescents on a daily basis.
“It’s strange that the Ministry of Education, in its assessment of the strike, has sent a platform to the schools, which is filled out, and it doesn’t take into account the minimum services. It considers the minimum services as not being a strike, which is not true, because the teachers are doing the minimum services and as soon as they finish them, they stop working and go on strike. It is wrong that the survey is done in this way, considering that those who are doing the minimum services are not on strike, which is not true,” said Mário Nogueira.
Schools must provide minimum services, as ordered on Monday by the Court of Arbitration, which considered that this teachers’ strike “cannot be seen as a one-day strike that will only cause the usual and legitimate inconveniences that any strike always causes,” but rather as “another strike in a series of strikes that, taken as a whole, already threaten to jeopardize the right to education.