Valencia experienced a massive educational mobilization in its streets this Friday, May 15th. Thousands of teachers, families, and students took to the streets of the city during the large demonstration called in defense of education. education. public and in support of the indefinite teachers' strike.
The protest is being held one day after the latest Sectoral Committee meeting between the Ministry of Education and the organizing unions, which was marked by the presentation of a controversial preliminary agreement that still keeps the education conflict open.
From early morning, teachers who had traveled from regions like Marina Alta began sharing images and videos of a city completely bathed in green.It's packed with people","Everywhere you see people in green»Or«Valencia explodes"These are some of the messages sent by participants from the region to the editorial staff of LaMarinaAlta.com as the mobilization progressed.
The rain did not stop a massive protest
The demonstration began at 12:00 noon and maintained a massive turnout even when it started to rain in the center of Valencia. Neither the rain nor the security deployment stopped the protest, which continued to move forward with chants, banners, and slogans in defense of "public and quality education."
Some attendees even noted the presence of a police helicopter circling the demonstration. The Government Delegation in the Valencian Community estimated the turnout at more than 35.000 people, making the demonstration one of the largest educational protests recorded in recent years.
The Marina Alta region is once again present in the mobilizations
The Marina Alta region once again became one of the areas most involved in the protests. Throughout the week, the region has seen informational pickets, rallies, assemblies, and massive demonstrations in municipalities such as Dénia, Ondara, Xàbia or Pedreguer.
The protest also comes just two days after the historic demonstration held in Déniawhere thousands of people marched through the city center in support of the indefinite teachers' strike.
The preliminary agreement keeps the education conflict alive.
Friday's meeting followed the latest Sectoral Committee meeting held on Thursday between the Ministry of Education and the unions STEPV, CCOO, UGT, and CSIF. According to STEPV, Minister Carmen Ortí presented a preliminary agreement document with proposals regarding student-teacher ratios, bureaucracy, staffing levels, infrastructure, and inclusive education. Training Professional and from Valencia. However, the text initially left out teachers' salaries, one of the main triggers of the indefinite strike.
Finally, the Ministry agreed to reinstate the salary point in the negotiations, although without yet specifying whether the controversial proposal would be maintained. 75 euros in three years rejected by the unions in recent days.
The unions consider the proposed measures insufficient.
STEPV stated after the meeting that the only area where there are measures that actually approach the union's demands is the one related to bureaucratic simplification.
Regarding student-teacher ratios, infrastructure, inclusive education, vocational training, the Valencian language, and teaching staff, the union considers the proposals "clearly insufficient" and, in many cases, simply reflects actions that were already planned or underway. The union also insists that much detail is still lacking and that "a possible agreement is still far from being reached."
Negotiations will continue next Monday.
The Valencian Ministry of Education has called another meeting with the unions for Monday, May 18th at 16:00 PM to continue negotiations. The STEPV union believes the regional government has finally understood that it must negotiate all the demands put forward by the teachers, although they point out that the unions have been calling for this process since September.
According to the union, two previous strikes, on December 11 and March 31, in addition to the current indefinite strike, were necessary for the Ministry to finally begin real negotiations.
The strike and protests continue
Meanwhile, the indefinite strike and protests continue unabated. The unions maintain that the strike is still being widely observed and that street protests will continue until a concrete and satisfactory proposal is presented to all Valencian teachers.
