PSD, BE and PCP want teachers’ time back but trade accusations of hypocrisy

Several parties defended the reinstatement of teachers’ seniority in parliament on Tuesday, in a debate that isolated the PS but traded accusations of hypocrisy between right and left.

The topic, which has marked the protest of teachers since the end of last year, was discussed on Tuesday during the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic, where several initiatives were proposed to improve teaching careers, including the Bloc de Esquerda (BE) bill. ) to fully restore service life.

“It is very important to improve the careers of teachers,” stressed MP Joana Mortagua, presenting the BE proposal, which aims to gradually restore by 2026 the 2,393 days that remain to be counted.

However, what is also a teachers’ demand has been rejected by the government and on Monday the Prime Minister confirmed the costs would be “unsustainable for the country”. Joana Mortagua therefore criticized the position of the Socialists, but also sharply criticized the PSD.

“If a few years ago the PS and SDP came together to say that all this was worth nothing, then this Tuesday all the masks came off,” he said, blaming the Social Democrats, who in 2019, together with the PS, were unable to fully restore seniority, “drown in your little hypocrisy.”

This comes as PSD President Luis Montenegro announced on Saturday that the party will offer phased pay for teachers’ tenure over five years, allocating 20% ​​each year.

In the same spirit, the PCP, which tabled a draft resolution on enhancing the value of teachers and non-teachers, recalled “the famous PSD flip-flop in 2019” and, on behalf of Alfredo Maia, said: “Today we have another opportunity to take the right steps. Will it happen this time?

“In fact, this is a fair cause, but this has already happened in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021,” responded MP Antonio Cunha of the PSD, returning the charge of hypocrisy to the BE and PCP “for carrying out part of the government decision and never without making the restoration of seniority an unambiguous condition for maintaining the government of António Costa.”

On the other hand, António Cunha also considered the government “incompetent to conduct clear, honest and open negotiations with teachers” and stated that “PS and this invention are largely responsible for the state in which public schools find themselves.”

Regarding the PS, Lúcia Araujo cited a number of measures adopted in the sector since 2015, arguing that the party has contributed to the valorization of teaching careers, and excluded the initiatives under discussion, recalling as an alternative the recently approved mechanisms to accelerate career progress.

Also presenting the draft resolutions, Livre’s only deputy, Rui Tavares, also pointed the finger at the PSD, saying that “the years it (the party) took to come to any proposal is almost equal to the duration of the service that must be restored.” .

Ines de Souza Real of PAN defended the review of the new management and recruitment regime for teachers, which she considers unfair in some aspects, while Carla Castro of the Liberal Initiative emphasized the need for structural reforms in the sector.