The Minister of Education, Culture and Universities, Carmen Ortí, announced this Thursday her intention to convene the unions tomorrow, Friday, for a new in-person negotiation meeting at 2:00 p.m. In the corridors of the Corts Valencianes, where Ortí was presenting the budget figures for her department, the head of Education stated that she hopes that “the physical integrity and freedom of the attendees will be respected,” which, in her opinion, will greatly help to “unblock the situation.”
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Ortí’s announcement seems to be an attempt to unblock negotiations that have been stalled since May 31, when the three majority unions left the ministry after rejecting the Consell’s latest proposal. The 30,000 teachers who participated in the consultation had emphatically expressed their opposition to accepting the conditions outlined in the document.
After last Sunday’s failed negotiation, the Ministry convened online meetings this week with the general directors to discuss each specific issue, which the majority unions – STEPV, UGT, and CCOO – refused to attend. They wanted a global and in-person negotiation.
Regarding the latter, this Thursday the minister indicated her decision to hold the meetings online after she herself, representatives of other unions, and the Ministry’s civil servants were “besieged” and “kidnapped” by protesters who were pressuring at the doors of the Campanar headquarters on Sunday.
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Although the minister did not want to indicate whether a new document would be presented, sources from her department explained that a new document is being worked on. In fact, the call that Education sent to the unions, and which they quickly disseminated on social media, speaks of “the definitive presentation of the eight points of the agreement negotiated between the Ministry and the union organizations present at the Sectoral Education Table.”
I am a public servant and I have not considered resigning
Carmen Ortí, Minister of Education
Before her parliamentary appearance and asked if she had considered resigning due to this situation, the minister replied no, because she is here “to fight and to work for the Valencian public system.” “I am a person who has worked for the administration my entire life. I am a public servant and I have not considered resigning,” she concluded.
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