European Trade Union Committee for Education

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In Portugal, the Federaçao Nacional dos Professores (FENPROF) has urged educators to go on strike on 11 December. The national action is intended to put pressure on the government and members of Parliament, demanding respect for the profession, improvement of their working and living conditions, and a solution to the teacher shortage.

FENPROF has called on teachers to mobilise en masse for the planned national strike. The strike will focus on the issue of teacher shortages and the risks triggered by the absence of negotiations on this matter according to Manuela Mendonça, president of the FENPROF National Council and member of Education International’s Executive Board. The union also stressed that negotiations and social dialogue are needed, particularly essential in times of COVID-19.

FENPROF stressed the need for the government to listen to teachers and to:

• Apply appropriate safety and security measures for educators confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Revitalise the profession, i.e. recruit young teachers, and provide older ones with decent retirement opportunities
• Stop abuses and illegalities in the number of working hours for teachers
• Rethink the teaching career, for example, by planning for the recovery of all service time completed
• Take immediate and medium-term measures addressing the teacher shortage
• End the obligation to film and transmit face-to-face classes
• Set up fair exams to enter the profession

ETUCE stands in solidarity with the teachers of Portugal.

Watch a video (in Portuguese) of FENPROF President Manuela Mendonça calling on educators to go on strike on 11 December: