For 720 million euros, perhaps someone would be kind enough to clarify exactly what more than 39,500 teachers in Catalonia have voted against.
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Have they voted against the 400 euro per month salary increase? Asking shouldn’t bother anyone. If so, what was the acceptable figure? 600? A thousand? Two thousand euros? Or have they voted against Ustec, that charming snake charmer union that for months waved the flag of permanent mobilization in the name of education and in the end argued over 50 more euros? Was it a vote against Educació? Against Minister Esther Niubó? Against President Illa? Against this specific pact? Against any agreement? Against the very idea of negotiating?
I ask because this journalist is perplexed. I suspect that like many families, astonished, tired and fed up with the school year having turned into a multi-ring circus, with simultaneous conflicts, mixed messages and a feeling of lack of control. And because what is to come -autumn included- does not invite optimism.
The social credit of striking teachers may be running out. Not because their demands are not legitimate. But because defending labor rights is one thing, and making the school a political, union, or ideological trench is quite another. Citizens know how to distinguish one from the other.
The credit that families and citizens have granted to striking teachers is running out
After more than twenty days of strike, a watered-down millionaire pre-agreement, and with barely two weeks of the school year left, it is chimerical to maintain that nothing has changed. Teachers run the risk of losing the support of some families. If they haven’t lost it already. Students will not recover lost hours, and it should be remembered that Catalonia does not shine for its educational indicators.
The consultation on a 2.7 billion euro pact – the 2 billion from February and the 700 million from May – could hardly have ended worse, with 65% of teachers against it. The signatories emerge weakened. And discredited. Their representativeness is questioned amidst a deep union division. No matter how much the Govern and Ustec now talk about reopening another stage, one cannot go back to square one because it has been shown that they do not control the grassroots. Reflection, of course, is due. But not without first separating two debates that have been mixed for too long: labor and education.
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Now there are 720 million euros in the air. Minister Niubó said yesterday that the Govern is not withdrawing the salary increase, something hardly understandable given the renewed announcements by the unions that from today they will exert more pressure on the streets. Whether the Pope, Formula 1, or whatever is here.
By the way, what hypocrisy from the parliamentary opposition rubbing their hands, even though part of the responsibility for the public school grounds being scorched for years also falls on them.
It is reasonable to think that diverse reasons coexist behind the teachers’ “no” in the consultation. There are those deceived by Ustec; those against its strategy; those from rival unions; those who want to punish the Govern… And also those who have expressed deep and sincere discomfort with the situation of public schools, a burning issue that goes beyond salary: theirs represents the vote of anger. In the coming days, the degree of support for the new protests can be measured, but few do much.
Only the secondary school teachers’ union supports the pre-agreement. Even so, only 52% of its members. Which leads to more questions. What do the 38,000 registered teachers who did not vote think? Why don’t they get involved? Do they completely ignore it or do they already give everything up for lost?
