Teacher Strike Blocks Lleida Roads

Teachers in Catalonia escalated a rolling strike on May 15 by blocking the N-240 highway outside Lleida with overturned trash containers and school furniture, according to local media and union accounts. The roadblock began shortly after 7:30 a.m. near the church of Montserrat and marked the fourth day of stoppages that week, focused on the Ponent, Alt Pirineu and Aran areas. Protesters later marched into the city ahead of a demonstration outside the territorial offices of the Education Department. Organizers and police gave sharply different turnout estimates, and union officials said the action followed a failed meeting with the regional government a day earlier. ### Why did teachers block a highway in Lleida? The May 15 blockade was part of a broader strike cycle called by a majority of public education unions in Catalonia for May and June. USTEC said the unions launched the stoppages because the Education Department had not reopened negotiations in a way they considered meaningful and because teachers had rejected what the union called an “agreement of country” backed by other labor groups. (ara.cat) USTEC said its demands include recovering teachers’ purchasing power, raising education investment, reducing class sizes, reinforcing staffing, cutting bureaucracy and revising curricula with teachers’ input. Rosa Aguilà, USTEC’s spokesperson in Lleida, said the mobilizations were a response to what she called “the inaction of the government” and accused the executive of staying within the framework of an agreement signed with minority unions. (sindicat.net) ### What exactly happened on the N-240? A group of teachers cut traffic on the N-240 at the entrance to Lleida a few minutes after 7:30 a.m., near the church of Montserrat, Ara and Segre reported. Protesters tipped over containers onto the road and brought school tables and chairs to the site; Segre reported that the furniture was used to light a bonfire. Mossos d'Esquadra and the local urban police diverted traffic, and about 100 people remained at the roadblock for roughly an hour and a half before setting off on foot toward the city. (sindicat.net) The 12:30 p.m. march began from the territorial Education offices in Lleida after the morning road action. Segre reported moments of tension when some teachers tried to move closer to the entrance of the Education headquarters and police intervened. ### How many people took part? (ara.cat) USTEC put attendance at the Lleida demonstration at 4,000 people, while Mossos d'Esquadra estimated about 2,000, Segre reported. Those competing counts came after the earlier highway blockade, where the newspaper said roughly 100 people had gathered at the N-240 cut itself before the larger city protest. (segre.com) The May 15 action was one leg of a territorial strike sequence that followed a Catalonia-wide stoppage on May 12 and regional actions on subsequent days. USTEC said the strike campaign runs from May 12 to June 5. ### What happened in talks with the Catalan government? The Catalan Education Department said on May 10 that Education Minister Esther Niubó had called a meeting for May 14 with unions represented at the sectoral bargaining table, including USTEC-STEs, ASPEPC-SPS, CCOO, CGT and UGT. (segre.com) Niubó said the meeting was intended to reduce tensions in schools and to discuss measures included in an accord that the government said put 2 billion euros on the table, including a 30% increase in the specific supplement for teachers and structural measures such as lower class sizes and more support staff for inclusive schooling. (sindicat.net) May 14 talks ended without agreement, according to Segre. Rosa Aguilà said the department should present “a clear and honest proposal” on Monday so negotiations could resume at the sectoral table on Tuesday, while Jordi Barrufet of Professors de Secundària in Lleida said Niubó had arrived at the last meeting without concrete proposals on class-size cuts, pay improvements or discipline measures in schools. (govern.cat) ### What comes next after the Lleida protest? Tuesday is the next date identified by both the government’s meeting process and union statements. Segre reported that the failed May 14 meeting ended with a new call for talks on Tuesday, and Aguilà said unions want a new proposal from the department before then. USTEC’s published strike calendar says the wider campaign extends into early June. (segre.com)