“While the negotiation of the Labor Code is ongoing, at the same time, the negotiation of our statute for the teaching career is also taking place, so what happens on one side has implications on the other,” stated the secretary-general of Fenprof, José Feliciano Costa, at the beginning of a plenary meeting to appeal for teachers’ participation in the general strike.
The plenary, held at Camões Secondary School in Lisbon, is one of many being organized across the country in preparation for next week’s strike, with around 200 already conducted in the Greater Lisbon area.
The secretary-general of Fenprof explained that teachers’ schedules are divided into teaching, non-teaching, and individual work components, which means, according to a study produced by the union itself, that teachers work “more than 50 hours per week” on average.
Catarina Teixeira, a preschool educator and leader of the Sindicato dos Professores da Grande Lisboa (SPGL), mentioned that if the Labor Law proposal is approved, these extra hours will not be compensated.
“They implemented the hours bank to address the shortage of teachers,” she stated, describing the hours bank as “a very serious situation.”
The union leader also indicated that “the extension of working hours will complicate family life, as they will work later,” which also affects the schedules of preschool educators.
Addressing the precarious situation of teachers, José Feliciano Costa highlighted the plight of researchers in higher education, considering it reaches “dramatic proportions,” noting that automatic integration into public service occurs after four years of service, which might be eliminated with the approval of the labor reform project.
The union warned about the challenges this reform poses to the right to strike, which include “the possibility of a union leader being unable to enter a school if there is not at least one unionized teacher at the school” and “the possibility of a union notice board not being allowed in a teachers’ room,” depending on the school director’s decision.
Regarding the expectations for adherence to the general strike, the secretary-general believes it will be “positive,” considering the strike on October 24th, where there was “a significant percentage of teachers, even higher than usual,” due to the labor package.
History teacher Iuri Pereira Barros also expects substantial participation in the strike from teachers.
“Since the announcement of the strike, people were a bit hesitant, but as the proposals of the labor package became more known and the union centers denounced these proposals, I have heard many colleagues say they do not usually strike, but this time on the 11th they will, as it is an attack on the rights, freedoms, and guarantees of Portuguese workers,” he said.
