The platform of nine unions of education professionals will refer teachers’ concerns to the European Commission’s Lisbon Delegation on Wednesday with a request to intervene in the affairs of the Portuguese government.
According to information from the National Federation of Education (FNE), nine trade union organizations will be received by the Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator of the Lisbon Representation of the European Commission, to whom they will report “persisting inequalities”.
“Especially for teachers with fixed-term contracts, as well as among full-time teachers, with over-career and competition for teacher positions,” the FNE said in a statement.
They will also address other issues such as “restrictions on trade union activity, with some schools imposing minimum services for union meetings, and the right to strike.”
The trade unions understand that there is “a place for diligence that European bodies can develop”, despite the fact that they believe that “problems affecting teachers should be decided by the national authorities, namely the Government and the Assembly of the Republic”. .
“As for the European Parliament, contacts will be established through the political parties that have elected MEPs, meetings have already been requested from all of them; this meeting is intended to send various information to the European Commission with a request to intervene with the Portuguese government.” , according to FNE.
For trade unions, the final use of European legal entities will only be possible once the national bodies have been exhausted “with which they develop the necessary actions with which they seek to solve the problems of career overtaking, as well as challenging the illegal minimum services that were placed on teachers in strike days.
In addition to the FNU, the platform includes ASPL – the trade union association of licensed teachers, the National Federation of Teachers (Fenprof), Pro-Ordem, the National Democratic Union of Teachers (Sindep), the Independent Union of Teachers and Educators (SIPE) and the National Conference of Teachers Licensed by Polytechnic Institutes and universities (SPLIU), from 15:00.