Thousands of teachers protest in the streets in front of the Assembly of the Republic

Thousands of teachers started a parade in Lisbon this afternoon to protest the government’s proposals for a new recruitment and placement regime and the lack of openness to discuss old demands such as the reinstatement of seniority.

“One, two, three, we are here again” is one of the slogans that can be heard in Rossio Square, where another demonstration begins this Saturday, called by a platform of teachers’ unions, who organized a similar initiative in less than a month. .

“Time to count, not to steal” is one of the most frequently yelled out phrases by teachers demanding the government start a negotiation process to rebuild for more than six years, during which their careers were frozen during the Troika.

At the start of this Saturday’s demonstration, two young students wearing T-shirts that read “My parents are teachers” stand out, who also explained to reporters the reasons for the protests that began at the end of last year and have not stopped until now.

Among the protesters, they shouted “Unreliable under 50, no young man can stand it,” demanding government measures to guarantee stability to a class known for “walking with the house on its shoulders.”

Similar to what is happening in Lisbon, there is also a demonstration in Porto of teachers who were able to take part in regional strikes that took place on Thursday in schools in the north of the country and on Friday in schools in the south.

The last demonstration convened by the trade union platform took place a little less than a month ago, on February 11, and many of the reasons for the protest remain unchanged, but meanwhile new reasons have appeared to take to the streets.

Trade unions and the Ministry of Education have been in talks since September to try to reach an agreement on a new recruitment and placement model for teachers. The last meeting was held last week and ended without an agreement, with the unions already saying they would ask for more meetings.

The new proposal, presented this week by the government, has not convinced unions, who say they are keeping some of the “red lines” that teachers have already pointed out, as in the case of the creation of Framework Councils for Teachers Zones (QZP).

The two protests started this Saturday from Rossio in Lisbon and Marquis Square in Porto and are for the Assembly of the Republic for those in Lisbon and Aliados for those in Porto.

Teachers have been on strike since December, while an indefinite strike was called by the Union of All Education Workers (Stop), which remains in protest against the government’s proposal for competitions and placement of teachers.

Meanwhile, the trade union platform, which does not include Stop, called for a strike that took place across the districts for 18 days and culminated in a demonstration on February 11 that drew more than 100,000 people in Lisbon, according to Fenprof estimates.