The negotiation between the Departament d'Educació and the education unions ended this Wednesday without agreement after two hours of meeting. The parties will sit down again on Friday at 12 noon in the Sectoral Table, with the salary increase still pending and with part of the union front divided on what should be discussed first.
The main friction appeared precisely in the order of topics. While the department and a part of the unions saw progress in inclusive education, CGT, Intersindical, and COS left the meeting understanding that the meeting focused on that point and not on salaries, which was the issue they expected to address.
CGT, Intersindical, and COS left the meeting due to the shift in debate
The union bloc that left the negotiation did so considering that the meeting had shifted towards inclusive education. That was the reason that led CGT, Intersindical, and COS to leave the table before closing the session with the Departament d'Educació.
USTEC, CCOO, and UGT, on the other hand, will remain in the negotiation and will resume talks on Friday at noon with the Sectoral Table. The department has asked for more time to analyze the rest of the measures that the striking unions had presented in a consensual manner.
Among these demands is that the agreed salary increase of 200 euros rises to 500 euros, in addition to the creation of 6,400 positions in two years and greater negotiation capacity on curriculum changes.
Iolanda Segura warned of mobilizations if there is no salary response on Friday
Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for USTEC, considered Friday's meeting a decisive point for the continuity of dialogue. Segura warned that the union will break off negotiations and escalate mobilizations if the department does not respond then to the unitary proposal on salary improvement.
"It is where we can advance more and better" - Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for USTEC
The USTEC representative also maintained that there is room for understanding in the implementation of inclusive education. In parallel, UGT and CCOO reaffirmed the agreement of March 9 and defended that the proposals put forward by USTEC fit within the framework of that pact.
On behalf of the administration, Ignasi Giménez, secretary of Educational Improvement, assured that negotiations are on the right track and defined the meeting as fruitful. That assessment coexisted with the lack of agreement at the end of the meeting and with the union's demand to obtain a concrete response on salaries in the next call.
Before the new meeting, CGT must decide whether to attend the meeting with the Department of Education again on Friday. On the parliamentary front, the CUP has presented a motion in the Parliament in which it calls for the dismissal of the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Esther Niubó.