Thousands of people, especially teachers, from the Valencian Community took to the streets again this Saturday afternoon in the first demonstrations of this new school year to demand that the Ministry of Education resume negotiations to achieve a “dignified and quality” public education system. The largest was in Valencia, with nearly 10,000 attendees, according to the government delegation.
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These marches, called simultaneously in the three provincial capitals, are “a starting point” to achieve “satisfactory progress,” say the organizing unions (the majority STEPV, CC OO, UGT, and CGT, among others), integrated in the Plataforma per l’Ensenyament Públic, warning that the possibility of reactivating the strike is on the table and that they will fight “to the end.”
“We are tired, but we cannot stop demonstrating to achieve our demands. Some things have been achieved, but not enough,” said Carlos, a secondary school teacher during the largest march, held in Valencia. Valencian teachers held a five-week strike that ended in mid-June.
“We must continue to demand and ask for what is fair for us and for public education,” said Ondina, a teacher from Castellón and mother “of two children and almost three,” referring to her advanced pregnancy.
The Valencia demonstration started around 18:10 from San Agustín square under the slogan Per la dignitat de l’escola pública and with a leading banner calling for the resignation of the Minister of Education, Carmen Ortí, from the PP.
In addition to teachers, families, members of civic organizations, and political representatives participated in the demonstration. The attendees — many of whom wore the now traditional green t-shirts and vests with the message “Docent treballant en precari”— chanted slogans such as “Que no, que no volem més retallades en sanitat i educació” or “Educació pública i de qualitat en valencià.”
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The STEPV Union Action Coordinator, Marc Candela, told the media at the start of the protest that the aim is “to reactivate the negotiation, but on terms to achieve progress, not like what happened after the suspension of the indefinite strike” at the end of last school year. “The goals are to improve staffing, salaries, reduce ratios… And that the agreement is, obviously, endorsed by the teaching staff,” defended the spokesperson of the majority union. He also warned that the teaching staff will be asked again if they want to go on strike again and with what model, although he urged waiting to see “how the Ministry reacts and from there make decisions.”
From CC OO, the General Secretary of Education, Xelo Valls, highlighted that “this is the starting point to continue achieving improvements that the teaching staff consider satisfactory.” “During last school year, what we did was listen to the teaching staff to see if the proposals on the table were satisfactory and, except for the reduction of bureaucracy, the others were not satisfactory for the majority of the union.”
And the UGT Ensenyament PV union representative Kilian Cuerda proclaimed that “this is not over and it will not stop.” He criticized that the Generalitat did not take advantage of the “strategic pause” offered by the educational community during the summer to reach an agreement.
The General Secretary of PSPV-PSOE and Minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the parliamentary spokesperson of Compromís, Joan Baldoví, participated in the Valencia demonstration, among other left-wing politicians.
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