More than 2,000 teachers and members of the educational community demonstrated this Thursday, May 21, in Tarragona to demand salary improvements, more resources, a reduction in ratios, and less bureaucracy. The strike, called by unions in Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre, has had a 70% turnout.
The protest combined broad mobilization with new pressure actions on traffic. Early in the morning, a hundred people blocked the N-240 at one of the entrances to the city, and after the main march, another hundred teachers blocked the A-7 only in the direction of Tarragona.
The march brought together more than 2,000 people between Plaça Imperial Tarraco and Educació
At noon, the demonstration started in Plaça Imperial Tarraco and ended in front of the territorial services of the Department of Education. Teachers and other members of the educational community from the regions of Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre participated in the route.
The organizers are demanding an improvement in salary conditions and an increase in staff, along with more resources for the schools, less bureaucratic burden, and a reduction in classroom ratios.
Noé Muñiz, spokesperson for USTEC in Tarragona, summarized the discontent during the protest.
"There is an educational emergency, we can't take it anymore, we say enough, there must be an investment in education" - Noé Muñiz, spokesperson for USTEC in Tarragona
A hundred demonstrators blocked the N-240 and later blocked the A-7
Before the march, a hundred people blocked the N-240 early in the morning at an entrance to Tarragona. The day thus maintained street pressure from the early hours and not just during the midday demonstration.
Later, in front of the territorial headquarters of Education, another hundred teachers continued the protests by blocking the A-7. In that case, the blockade only affected the direction of Tarragona.
Aida Montané, spokesperson for Intersindical in Tarragona, rejected the scope of the proposals known so far after contacts with the administration.
"They give us crumbs, but we want the whole bread" - Aida Montané, spokesperson for Intersindical in Tarragona
In a second assessment, Montané has insisted that the teaching staff are asking for more personnel in the centers. The spokesperson for the Intersindical in Tarragona has stated that "the four prawns do not feed us" and has added that they reject the pact because they want "more hands and more technical personnel".
After the meeting between the councilor Esther Niubó and the unions, the Department of Education has shown willingness to negotiate the demands of the teaching staff.