Teachers from all over the country guarantee “the fight will go on”

Teachers from across the country are demonstrating this Saturday in Lisbon with a list of demands that includes a count of seniority that has been frozen for more than six years and guarantees that “the fight will continue.”

“Teachers are fighting in schools and on the streets”, “we are not stopping” and “the fight will continue” are the most resounding words this afternoon on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon, where thousands of teachers from all over the country have gathered. marching in protest.

Among the list of claims is an experience corresponding to more than six years, in which career growth was frozen.

For Conceição Viana, a philosophy teacher in Oeiras, the reasons for participating in the national demonstration called by the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) are several, “but the ones that take precedence are related to the seniority count”, conditions of employment conditions and recruitment criteria.

“Fundamentally, on a personal level, the issue of accounting for seniority, but I agree with issues that relate to teachers of a different age and a different stage of the path,” he told Luce.

As for Alvaro Oliveira, teacher of Portuguese and French at Monte da Caparica in Almada, “a mandatory stop for 5th and 7th grades doesn’t make sense.”

“Teachers have experience, they do everything, they progress, and then hang on these steps. In addition, the length of service that was not counted continues to be not counted, and the question of salary is generally ridiculous, because the minister [da Educação] It says that there is a salary progression, but since 2008 I have been earning exactly the same, we are in 2023, so this is a complete lie, ”he said.

Dina de Jesús, a Portuguese teacher at Vale de Cambra, also said she comes “to all the demonstrations because the situation doesn’t change.”

“We have to keep our position because it is important for us, for our students, for parents, for the whole country,” he told Luza, showing a poster with the words “democracy”, which, in his opinion, is at stake. and “respect” because he feels no lack from political leaders.

“I am on the sixth step, but I should be on the seventh, almost on the eighth. We were marking time here and did not take into account the years that we froze, the state collected taxes from us and stole our service life, ”Dina accused. de Jesus, demanding a “decent life” for the country’s teachers.

The national demonstration in Lisbon is convened by the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof) but also involves the National Federation of Education (FNE) and seven other trade union organizations, as well as the Association of Armed Forces Officers and PSP representatives.

The Union of All Educational Workers (STOP), which is still on strike in schools, is not among the organizers, but has already announced that it will attend.

The last two major demonstrations in Lisbon took place in January and were organized by STOP, resulting in thousands of teachers taking to the streets to shout “Respect” and “Better Working Conditions”.

At the beginning of the school year, the guardianship decided to start a negotiation process to revise the model for hiring and placing teachers, but some of the proposals caused dissatisfaction among teachers, as in the case of the possibility of principals to choose part of their team. .

Since then, negotiations between the unions and the ministry have been met with strong opposition, with teachers staging strikes and demonstrations.

Off the negotiating agenda, there are statements that professors say they won’t back down on, such as reinstatement or career advancement that professors enjoy.

The union platform that organized Saturday’s protest promised that future protests would be presented after the demonstration ended.