The Catalan teaching staff votes from this Monday until Thursday on whether to endorse or reject the pre-agreement reached on May 29 between the majority unions and the Departament d'Educació. The consultation comes with opposing positions between the organizations that have led the conflict and with direct effects on the strikes announced for the coming weeks.
The main unknown is that the two unions that maintain the most public visibility describe opposite readings of the climate in the schools. USTEC and Professors de Secundària defend the pact, while the CGT maintains that a large part of the collective has already rejected it because the text leaves out demands that it considers central.
USTEC and CGT disagree on real support for the pre-agreement
The spokesperson for USTEC, Iolanda Segura, defended the agreement but admitted the lack of certainty about the final result of the vote. In an appearance on the program Bon dia, Barcelona, she pointed out that very active sectors are in opposition alongside others that do not express themselves publicly.
"We don't know what can happen, because there is a part that makes a lot of noise and another that doesn't express itself as much, and we don't know what volume each one is" - Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for USTEC
Faced with this uncertainty, the CGT maintains that discontent is more widespread than the official positions in favor of the text reflect. The general secretary of CGT enseñanza, Laura Gené, stated in the same program that many assemblies have already expressed their rejection.
"A large part of the teaching staff is saying no, and many assemblies have expressed their rejection" - Laura Gené, general secretary of CGT enseñanza
The difference between the two readings is not insignificant because the scope of the consultation also divides the unions. The CGT has decided to extend it to all educational professionals, including educational support staff and staff for zero to three-year-olds, who were left out of the agreement signed on May 29.
Thursday's result will mark the strikes planned from June 8
The outcome will be known on Thursday, and both USTEC and the CGT have stated that they will respect the majority decision. From then on, the mobilization calendar will change completely depending on the outcome of the vote.
If the union endorses the pre-agreement, the CGT will call off the strikes. If the opposite happens, USTEC will call an indefinite strike starting June 8 and the CGT will maintain its rejection of the start of the next school year under the conditions set by the current calendar.
The Departament d'Educació has also linked its response to the outcome of the consultation. Ignasi Jiménez, Secretary of Educational Improvement of the Generalitat, maintained that the text improves upon what was previously agreed with CCOO and UGT and defended that the path forward remains negotiation.
Jiménez also assured that the Government will maintain its willingness to dialogue even if the vote ends up rejecting the agreement. The Secretary of Educational Improvement of the Generalitat specified that the pre-agreement of May 29 is "the starting point, not the destination" and added that the deployment and monitoring commission will be able to introduce improvements.