The Department of Education, led by Carlos Gimeno, has announced that some of the union demands will be approved at the meeting on 22 October. On the one hand, it has announced that the ratio of elementary school students in the center will be reduced, that is, a maximum of 23 students per classroom. On the other hand, he explained that institutional training will be reduced from 35 to 25 hours in the afternoon. However, the trade unions claim that these proposals do not meet their demands. They argue that the decline in ratios should be ensured at all stages of education. Moreover, they criticise the fact that they do not receive remuneration for overtime, which perpetuates the work overload.

In this regard, Gimeno explained that in order to reach an agreement, it would be sufficient for the Department of Education to accept the proposals. It has asked the trade unions to sign the proposal, on the grounds that otherwise there will be no change to it. The trade unions rejected the proposal and criticised what happened at the meeting: “The conversation has been sparse and similar to a ping-pong match.”

The trade unions have announced that they will continue to mobilise until they respond to their demands in an appropriate manner and ensure that working conditions in the sector are improved. As you have explained, the changes that have taken place so far have been the result of the mobilisation of workers.