Teachers’ unions and the Generalitat are optimistic about the end of the indefinite strike in Valencian non-university public education, which enters its third week of stoppage this Monday. The regional Secretary of Education, Daniel McEvoy, is confident of resolving the conflict in the coming days and has called the unions this Monday to continue negotiations – which would be the fifth occasion – once three of them have again presented a more concrete claim document this very Monday morning.
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Before it was known that there would be negotiations in the afternoon, a green tide of teachers gathered at 10 a.m. in front of the Ministry of Education to ask the Generalitat to negotiate. On this occasion, they were unable to enter the official premises, which was closed and guarded by a police cordon.
Just an hour later, amid music and protest whistles, Jaime Olmos, spokesperson for the management teams of educational centers, stated that this morning “the resignation process has begun for between three and four members in 60 schools,” which amounts to about 240 resignations. Olmos told the gathered teachers that these resignations are “a cry for help” and are not directed against anyone, but rather to demand that negotiations take place and that attention be refocused on public education. According to this spokesperson, the resignations have been registered electronically since the morning.
The coordinator of Union Action of STEPV, the majority union, Marc Candela, announced this weekend, after a large demonstration in Valencia supported by more than 30,000 people, that the entities would come this Monday morning with a renewed proposal to see if the Minister of Education, Carmen Ortí, “wants to negotiate.” “Enough already, they should sit down to negotiate, which is what we have been asking for since September 25,” he emphasized.
The new claim document presented today, and which the minister and the regional Secretary of Education have received by hand, has “more specificity and scheduling,” according to union sources. Additionally, the condition has been added that the management positions of centers that have collectively resigned to demand that Education negotiate be “immediately reinstated” once the agreement is signed.
The demand to reduce students per classroom sets a goal for the 2029-2030 school year to have a ratio of 15 students in the second cycle of Early Childhood Education and 20 in the other stages. It also calls for “the negotiation of teaching staff for all educational stages before the end of the 2026-2027 school year with the commitment to maintain the staff from the 2023 agreements (7,000 more teachers) and the update of structural needs.”
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Regarding salaries, the unions maintain their request to recover the purchasing power lost since 2010 against the latest economic offer made by the Generalitat, which consisted of a progressive increase of 200 euros over three years: 75 euros in 2026, another 75 in 2027, and 50 in 2028.
“Imminent” agreement, says Education
Daniel McEvoy, regional Secretary of Education, clarified that the Ministry has to study the new document and will discuss its content with the unions in the afternoon. “I think it is a very important step towards solving the problem we are all immersed in, an improvement for the teaching staff, for the students, and for the families,” he pointed out. “I am convinced that we are on the right track, that we will bring those positions closer together and for the good of all, the agreement will be imminent,” the secretary states.
Regarding the format of the negotiation this week, McEvoy considered that a 10-hour meeting would not be operational. “If we cannot finish this afternoon in a reasonable time, we will continue tomorrow, the day after, or as long as necessary. But we hope it will be as soon as possible. If a recess is needed and to continue the next day, we will do it without problem,” emphasized the Secretary of Education.
About the resignations announced by management teams of schools and institutes, McEvoy insisted that “when they become effective we will talk but for now we have no record. When they are registered officially we will count them and take appropriate measures,” he assured.
The regional Secretary of Education also explained that minimum services are being fulfilled. “We were convinced that, as always, the responsibility of the teaching staff was not to harm the students and indeed that has been the case. They have complied and the evaluations of 2nd year of Baccalaureate have proceeded with absolute normality: they have been conducted with all guarantees, no student will be harmed thanks to the professionalism of the teachers,” he concluded.
