The unions of the Sectoral Education Commission (CC.OO, ANPE, CSIF and UGT) called a rally in front of the department led by Emilio Viciana on October 16 and a demonstration and strike on the 29th of the same month, which will travel the streets of the capital from Neptune to Sol, as announced in a joint press release.
The four union associations demand, among other things, a reduction in schedules and ratios, and protest against the suspension of the September 12 meeting with the Ministry of Education, which justified the postponement for “unforeseen agenda reasons” , as they explained by email. . Education Minister Emilio Viciana promised two weeks ago to convene the meeting “as soon as possible.”
The first gathering will take place on October 16 at 11 a.m. in front of the headquarters and in the educational centers. On October 29, a day of strike and demonstration are planned at 5:30 p.m. If the conflict between the unions and the regional government persists, on November 14 a rally will be called in front of the Madrid Assembly, at 10 a.m., and on November 21, the day of strike and demonstration in the afternoon will repeat themselves, with the same route. .
These are not the first concentrations since the start of the school year. On September 25, the group of teachers who defend the reduction in lesson hours Fewer lessons promoted a day of partial strike in non-university public education in Madrid.
The unions’ demands are not new, but they have already been evident since the previous year. One of the main ones is the restoration of teaching time to 18 hours in secondary education, in vocational training and in special regime, instead of the current 20 hours, as well as the reduction in nursery and primary school to 23 hours, instead of the current 25. .
The implementation of this reduction in teaching hours is part of the disagreements between the Administration and the organizations of the Sectoral Commission, which led to the failure of the negotiations of the new educational framework agreement last year and to the call for several days of strike. . The demonstrations will be repeated in October and November and the unions warn that they will last “until the end of the school year if necessary”.
The Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration and spokesperson for the Regional Executive, Miguel Ángel García Martín, defended last week the work of the Community of Madrid to “improve the working conditions of all teachers” and in the “gradual reduction of ratios at all levels of education” or the construction of new centers.
That the centers can choose the type of day, between part-time or continuous, is another of the complaints demanded by the unions. The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced on September 12, during the Debate on the state of the region, that the new public schools would have to have split days. The measure will be implemented from the 2025/2026 school year and the objective, according to Ayuso, is to “fight against school dropouts”.
The equalization of salaries with other autonomous communities and a shock plan against bureaucracy are other measures that the unions will demand.
