Teachers’ unions have just signed peace with the Generalitat Government in exchange for a 400 euro monthly salary increase in 2029. The Administration has improved the teachers’ salary raise by 50 euros compared to yesterday’s proposal, which has pleased most of the union organizations, including Ustec. The Government thus yields to the requests by incorporating an additional amount of money into the pact that would amount to around 670 million, added to the 2,000 million already agreed upon in March.
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In return, according to sources from the negotiations, “the signing union organizations commit not to raise, during the term of this agreement, new general claims that would entail opening new negotiation processes on matters already regulated or agreed upon in this framework, without prejudice to the legally recognized collective bargaining rights.”
For now, it is a preliminary agreement, which the unions will submit to their bases for ratification. In the event of a rejection by Catalonia’s teachers in a Ustec consultation this weekend, strikes would continue and mobilizations would be extended to the days of the Pope’s visit to Barcelona.
Furthermore, in negotiations that leave behind 23 days of strikes so far this school year, the scheduling of the repayment of the six-year bonuses debt and the call for professorships has been achieved. In total, along with the salary increase, this means the Department of Education adds another 670 million to the March pact of 2,000 million, which was signed only with CC.OO and UGT. This time, Ustec-Stes, Aspepc-Sps, and Intersindical will sign the document, although CGT Ensenyament and COS have dropped out and walked away from the table.
CGT and COS walked away from the table this afternoon to express their disagreement
CGT’s refusal is because, in their view, their demands have not been met: neither the salary guarantee clause, nor the reduction of ratios in first grade of primary school, nor the audit to assess the psychosocial climate in classrooms. This union has announced it will campaign for a no vote on the preliminary agreement this weekend, coinciding with the consultation that Ustec will conduct among teachers. The rest of the unions are still meeting with Minister Esther Niubó at this hour. “The minister is held hostage by the CC.OO and UGT unions. This is beyond her, and we demand her resignation,” said Laura Gené, spokesperson for CGT Ensenyament.
The meeting lasted all morning and much of the afternoon after a long recess following lunch. It had moments of great tension due to disagreements among the unions themselves, not only with the Administration. Today’s resumption came after union members locked themselves in the Department of Education headquarters last night to make their protest visible over how the sectorial table meeting ended on Thursday.
What is included in the preliminary agreement
The preliminary agreement includes a cumulative increase of €384.77 in primary and €389.50 in secondary in the autonomous part of the salary (which includes the new autonomous supplement of 170 euros per month), which, added to the planned state increases, will reach €599.50 in primary and €633.58 in secondary in four years.
It also foresees the deployment of more than 6,300
resources linked to inclusive education, with concrete objectives such as providing all I3 groups with TEEI and figures and resources to strengthen communicative competence and language acquisition.
There will also be a call for 5,000 secondary professorships. Also new monitoring spaces on infrastructure, air conditioning, and curriculum. The proposal also includes expanding elements negotiated in March regarding: annual transfer contests and reaching 85% of staff with permanent positions in two years; annual competitive exams with a call for more than 5,000 pending positions; elimination of interviews and limitation of profiled positions with a 3% cap; deployment of the bureaucracy reduction plan and incorporation of more PAS and progressive reduction of ratios until reaching 20 students in primary and 25 in secondary.
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This lasted six hours during which the union organizations did not accept the Administration’s new conditions to advance an agreement and unblock the conflict.
They admitted improvements such as the scheduling of the repayment of the stages, the call for professorship positions, and improvements in inclusive resources that exceed their requests.
They complained about the economic insufficiency in salaries and the obligation to agree on an agreement with an established framework.
Thus, Education proposed preserving the agreement signed with CC.OO. and UGT in March, improving some aspects such as accelerating salary payments, and incorporating in an addendum all improvements in salary supplements and working conditions.
This morning, however, the unions entered the meeting recalling that they not only disagree with the figures proposed for the salary increase (about 400 euros in 4 years, according to Education; about 330 euros, according to unions) but that the issue of reducing ratios and curriculum reform must be reopened.
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