- “Because of the restrictions that the Basque Government is imposing” many unions have called for a strike in non-university public education and children’s schools in the Basque Country. The strike has been a success, according to the callers. The unions say that 80% of the workers have joined the strike.
That the strike is not justified “in any way”, that it is not the time and that the demands of the unions are not reasonable, this is the response of the Basque Government, from the mouth of the elephant Josu Erkoreka: “What they want is not in the hands of the government.” And he adds that those who have shown a “lack of interest in negotiating” have been the unions themselves. According to the Government, the number of workers who have joined the strike has not reached 50 per cent.
In addition to teachers, along with special education educators, cooks and cleaners, 31,000 workers have been called on strike on May 16 by the unions ELA, LAB, Steilas, ESK, CNT and CCOO. Convened by the first three, and supported by the CSR and CNT, several meetings have been held in schools since the morning and demonstrations have been held in the capitals at 12:00 noon; the one in Bilbao has left the Sacred Heart, the Boulevard of San Sebastián and the one in Vitoria-Gasteiz from Bilbao Plaza.
The CCOO has decided to carry out the strike on its own and has called for meetings in front of the Education Delegations in Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Álava from 10:00 to 10:30 in the morning.
Steilas and ELA have indicated on Twitter that the strike has been a great success since the morning. According to the report released by the LAB at 10:45 a.m., the continuation of the strike was 80%.
Xabier Irastorza, head of education at ELA, says they want to denounce the destruction of employment, the increase in the student ratio, the many temporary contracts and the policies of cuts. He stressed that beyond working conditions, the educational system was at stake.
The following demands have been made to improve the situation denounced: an increase in educational investment; an increase in staff of at least 2,000 employees; a reduction of the provisional average of almost 40% to 6%; a reduction of 10% in student ratios and the cancellation of LOMCE and Heziberri, among others.
The unions held a meeting with the Department of Education on May 4 to address the shortcomings, but the meeting was unproductive and they decided to maintain the strike. On Tuesday the 23rd, there will be a strike.