District teachers’ strikes begin in Gaia, with dozens demanding “respect.”

Several dozen teachers gathered today at 12:00 in front of the Canelas Primary and Secondary School in Gaia (Porto), starting a district strike with banners demanding “respect” and promising to keep fighting.

“We don’t stop [a luta]we don’t stop, we don’t stop, we don’t stop”, “Government is listening, teachers are fighting”, “Time to count, not steal” or “Teachers demand respect” are some of the phrases. say dozens of teachers gathered today at the head of the Canelas school in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Porto region.

This initiative marked the beginning of a new round of district strikes called by a platform of nine trade unions, which includes the National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF), the National Federation of Education (FNE).

On the occasion, Fenprof general secretary Mario Nogueira told reporters that the fight must go on and acknowledged that the unions are developing a fight plan for the next academic year if an agreement with the government is not reached.

“We have already begun to discuss how we will open the next school year, because after (…) all the struggle that has unfolded, if we now purely and simply decide to give up, end, this would be a throw away of the capital of struggle that has been accumulated “, – he said.

For the trade unionist, “The Ministry of Education knows that teachers are fighting for good reasons. The public opinion of Portugal, the population as a whole, have followed this struggle of teachers, and this is very important, and therefore teachers will continue their fight, because they believe that the students in our schools have the right to have professional teachers. They have the right to have teachers who promote quality learning.”

“If these problems of the profession and its devaluation are not addressed, then we will have a shortage of teachers, which in some cases can be masked by the replacement of teachers with other graduates who are not teachers, but this cannot be a solution. “We need teachers in schools,” he warned.

According to Mario Nogueira, the government and the Ministry of Education “do not renounce either the devaluation of the teaching profession” or “disregard for the fundamental rights of teachers” such as the calculation of work experience, that they worked for career purposes, or the level of competition regime approved executive power.

“We hope that the President of the Republic will not accept [o regime de concursos]allowing him to return to the negotiating table again to correct these red lines,” he urged.

According to the union leader, at this point, the negotiations the teachers were waiting for were for the government to “submit a proposal for a phased restoration of service,”

“Unions, nine organizations proposed that by the end of the legislature, with the opening of the possibility of extending this period, there should be a stage that restores the time worked by teachers, and at the same time closes vacancies that impede progress. into two career levels,” explained Mario Nogueira, regretting that the government introduced it in March and reaffirming in April that “it doesn’t want to restore a single day of those that the teachers still froze.”

Mario Nogueira described the government’s competition regime as “discriminatory”, “unfair” and “exclusive”, and affirmed that teachers would not give up or stop fighting, vowing to strike for “final grades, for a year and always”. .

“We will not stop until the profession is no longer respected.”

Several dozen students also gathered today in front of Canelas Elementary and Middle School, as well as several parents who came to pick up their children who missed classes.

In an interview with Lusa, students Mathilde Pereira, Sophia Sampaio and Beatriz Peixoto, who are in their 11th year of the Faculty of Humanities at this institution, say that they did not have English and physical education classes today because of the strike.

When asked if they agree that teachers quarrel, they unanimously respond that they quarrel, but at the same time they believe that they are harmed in preparing for the exams that they will have at the end of the school year.

“On the one hand, I think that it is right for them to fight for their rights, but for students who have to take exams, it harms their studies,” the students say.

The district teachers’ strike will take place from today April 17 to May 12 and will cover all districts of the country in reverse alphabetical order (from Viseu to Aveiro), with the fight expected at 12 noon every day. :00, without specifying minimum services.

Instead of an 18 working day strike notice, each of the nine organizations submits a strike notice for each of the days of struggle.

Today in Porto, at 15:00, a meeting is scheduled at D. João I Square, in the very center of the city.

In addition to Fenprof and FNE, the platform of the union includes the Allied Association of Licensed Teachers (APSL), Pro-Ordem dos Professors (PRÓ-ORDEM), the Union of Educators and Licensed Teachers (SEPLEU), the National Union of Educational Professionals (SINAPE). , the National and Democratic Union of Teachers (SINDEP), the Independent Union of Teachers and Educators (SIPE) and the National Union of Teachers Licensed by Polytechnics and Universities (SPLIU).