Tuesday’s nationwide education strike included representatives from all levels of the sector, marking the first time such an action had been staged in Spain. The strike was propelled by the austerity measures affecting the sector. These include up to €3 billion cuts in spending, the addition of two hours to teachers' weekly classroom timetable and an increase in the pupil-classroom maximum ratio, currently at 25 in primary level and 30 in secondary. Early reports suggested a good level of support among teaching staff. However, while unions claimed an 80-percent turnout, as expected, government figures were decidedly lower. A more pressing question to ask about Tuesday's action, … [Read more...] about Education strike highlights Spain’s teaching problem
Spain strike
The strikers who have nothing to protest
There have been a number of signs over the last few months that the general strike called by Spain's two main trade union confederations, UGT and Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), against government economic policy and labour reform is not going to attract as big a crowd as anticipated. The first was that they switched the date of the strike from June to September 29th. The second was when, in late spring, the functionary-specific unions that had invited the leaders of UGT and CCOO, Cándido Méndez and Ignacio Fernández Toxo respectively, to a protest against government pay cuts later declared that neither would be welcome at future demonstrations. UGT and CCOO, it was felt, had attempted to hijack … [Read more...] about The strikers who have nothing to protest