Schools are closed, while others “half-heartedly” strike against discrimination against women

Some schools have closed and others are “at half capacity” – this is how the Union of All Education Workers (Stop) assesses the strike called this Friday on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

“The support we have received has been quite significant. We have schools closed in the north and south of the country, in addition to schools where the gas level is at half,” said André Pestana, coordinator of “Stop,” in a statement to Luse, stressing that the National Strike is directed against all school workers.

Andre Pestana stressed that the majority of education professionals are women and that reports of discrimination are common: “There are teachers who suffer professional harm because they are mothers,” he charged.

There are stories of women who say they were hampered in their evaluation and career advancement because they were on sick leave due to a high-risk pregnancy or because they were on maternity leave.

Andre Pestana also mentioned cases of women who said that schools unilaterally determined the number of hours or activities they would be required to breastfeed their children.

“All studies show that discrimination against women still exists in Portugal and in the world,” he lamented, adding that this reality prompted Stop to decide to take part in the march organized by Plataforma Feminista and Rede 8 de Março, which starts this Friday. – the fair starts at 18:00 at the Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques in Lisbon and ends at Rossio Square.

In addition to issues directly affecting women, professionals will use the strike to reaffirm the demands that have marked the protests in schools, such as increasing the value and dignity of teaching and operational teaching assistant careers, restoring frozen working hours, and overhauling the faculty selection and management regime .