Teachers and non-teaching workers from all over the country demonstrated again today in Lisbon, in a march organized by the Union of All Education Professionals (Stop) in defense of public schools and for better working conditions and wages.
It is the fourth demonstration promoted by Stop since December, when it also started an indefinite strike that still continues, to demand better conditions for all school professionals, such as a salary increase of 120 euros.
The march is scheduled to start at 14:00 in front of the Palace of Justice, because, explained the national Stop coordinator – they are “demanding justice” and proceeds to the official residence of the Prime Minister.
The protest will then join the gathering of the Vida Justa movement, in front of the Assembly of the Republic, where some teachers and non-teachers will start a three-day vigil, also organized by Stop.
In a statement, the union anticipated that, by Tuesday, more than a hundred people will be camped there, “with their mouths gagged and their arms tied in a sign of protest against all the attacks” that they believe are being made against democracy and the right to strike and “to a quality public school for all who work there”.
In addition to better working and salary conditions for school professionals, Stop also calls for the recovery of more than six years of service by teachers and the end of vacancies for access to the 5th and 7th career levels.
They also contest the Government's proposal for the new model of recruitment and placement of teachers, which was under negotiation with the trade unions.
The negotiating process ended on Wednesday, with no agreement on the part of the teachers' representatives. At the end of the meeting, the national coordinator of Stop, André Pestana, did not say whether the union would ask for additional negotiation, but considered that the advances, which he says were achieved thanks to the contestation, were, even so, insufficient.
"Manifestly, it is too little for the central issues and that are not being placed on the table", he underlined.
In the last Stop march, on the 28th of January, which ran along Avenida 24 de Julho, from the Ministry of Education to the gardens in front of the official residence of the President of the Republic, the union claims to have gathered more than 100 people.
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