The Minister of Education and Vocational Training of the Generalitat, Esther Niubó, has reiterated that the Government's intention is to maintain the pre-agreement reached last Friday with the education sector unions: "It is only Ustec·Stes who is disengaging at this time, the commitment and the will is to continue implementing this agreement".
She stated this at a press conference in the Parliament after the results of the consultation among teachers were known this Thursday, in which 65.1% of the votes rejected the pre-agreement between the Ministry and the unions Ustec·Stes and Aspepc·Sps signed the previous Friday.
Niubó announced that this very Friday she will launch a round of contacts with the union organizations that did sign the pre-agreement with the Government, while calling for an exercise of responsibility from all parties involved.
She positively assessed that Aspepc·Sps, the secondary school teachers' union, has finally ratified its support for the pre-agreement, and emphasized that during the negotiation process the Government "has been responding to the requests" that teachers have been carrying "for decades".
"The alternative to agreements is only deadlock, and deadlock is not positive in any case, neither for the country nor for education," she said, stressing that the pre-agreement provides for more than 2.7 billion euros to strengthen the education system and consolidate inclusive education.
Niubó assured that "the Government's commitment to improving the education system remains in force" and called on the entire educational community for deep reflection on the current moment.
Strikes and end of term
When asked if she believes there is still room to achieve the cancellation of the strikes announced by teachers, she defended respect for the right to strike, but called for it "to be compatible with an orderly end of term and that it does not compromise in any case the right to education of children and young people, nor the right to mobility".
"The will would have been to reach this pre-agreement with the maximum possible support and that all the mobilizations would have been called off," she added, insisting that the Government has fulfilled its obligations in the negotiation.
Niubó has remarked that the pre-agreement signed with Ustec·Stec and Aspepc·Sps expands and reinforces the pact that the Generalitat had already signed previously with the union representatives of CC.OO. and UGT, and has reiterated that the intention of the Catalan Executive is to deploy it "in its entirety".