A-Infos (en) Brazil, OSL: Education in struggle, education in battle - Education professionals mobilize in the first semester of the year (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In a context of attacks on workers' rights, education professionals from 
different public networks across the country are leading important 
mobilizations throughout the first semester of 2024. From basic 
education to higher education, workers have engaged in building 
struggles whose demands mainly concern salary adjustments (to compensate 
for inflationary losses in recent years), better working conditions, and 
the enhancement or restructuring of career plans.

In the city of São Paulo, education professionals from the municipal 
network went on strike between March 8th and 28th. Together with 
municipal employees, education workers brought forward their salary 
campaign, demanding a 39% increase to compensate for accumulated 
inflation, as well as defending their career plan and improving working 
conditions. Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB), a representative of the business 
sector and an ally of Bolsonaro, demonstrated his intransigence and 
contempt for workers: together with his base in the City Council, he 
imposed a readjustment of only 2.16%, attempting to blackmail the 
category with the adoption of a subsidy policy - which destroys the 
career plan. Bureaucratic disputes established by the union leadership 
between the Coeduc bloc (Sedin, Sinesp and Sinpeem) and the Forum of 
Entities (led by Sindsep and Aprofem) weighed negatively on education 
professionals. The first bloc defended a corporatist approach, 
separating education from other categories - therefore, breaking with 
class unity.

Due to difficulties imposed by the union bureaucracy itself, the 
demonstrations had little practical impact in the city, and members of 
the leadership sought to direct the struggle towards the municipal 
electoral process - even launching candidates. The Regional Strike 
Committees, however, once again played an important role in the 
mobilization, visiting schools and fostering the participation of a 
category that demonstrated a willingness to fight. In practice, the 
Regional Committees are a fundamental instrument for the most combative 
sectors of the category, who refuse to be limited by the 
authoritarianism and retreat of union bureaucracies and encourage 
greater participation of the rank and file in union activities.

In Bauru, in the interior of São Paulo state, education workers 
mobilized in February, demanding compliance with the Minimum Wage for 
Teachers, as well as the release of one-third of their Basic Workload 
without direct interaction with students - something stipulated in the 
Minimum Wage Law for Teachers and which the city hall failed to comply 
with in a text sent to the City Council. Mayor Suéllen Rosim (PSD), also 
a Bolsonaro supporter and representative of the business sector, refused 
to negotiate with the category, appealing to the judiciary to ensure 
that 70% of the school staff were operational - a request that was 
granted by the judges. Education workers in the São Paulo state school 
system are also mobilizing: on March 15th, a work stoppage with an 
assembly was held - with a new stoppage planned for April 26th, 
indicating a potential strike. The list of demands includes, among other 
points, a salary adjustment with the application of the national minimum 
wage to the base salary; job security, rights, fair assignments and 
salaries for temporary teachers; the hiring of those who passed the 
competitive exam; and opposition to the New High School Curriculum (NEM).

In the municipal school system of Belo Horizonte (MG), also in February, 
striking education professionals also faced intransigence from the mayor 
Fuad Noman (PSD) and the judiciary, which imposed a daily fine of R$ 
100,000 on Sindrede (the teachers' union). In the last assembly, workers 
defended constant mobilization in favor of their careers, the 
appreciation of public servants, and public education. With the end of 
the strike, they accepted the proposal of an 8.04% adjustment in three 
installments: 4.03% in August; 1.82% in November and 2% in December. 
Also in Minas Gerais, the state network held a 48-hour strike in March, 
with significant participation. The workers demanded the payment of the 
minimum wage (R$ 4,580.57) and the overturning of Governor Romeu Zema's 
(Novo) veto of the bill that extended health assistance from the state's 
Social Security Institute (Ipsemg) to civil servants who retired under 
the general regime (RGPS).

In southern Brazil, the education sector also mobilized. In Santa 
Catarina, state education professionals approved an indefinite strike 
starting April 23rd. The movement is a tool to pressure the government 
of Jorginho Mello (PL) to address their demands, which include salary 
increases; the repeal of the 14% pension confiscation; and guaranteed 
activity hours for teachers in the early years and second teachers. In 
Paraná, teachers from the municipal network of Almirante Tamandaré, 
along with other municipal employees, approved a state of strike in 
April. Education professionals, as in many other regions, are also 
demanding the payment of the minimum wage.

In the Northeast, the campaigns of education professionals reached 
several states. In Pernambuco, Sintepe called on the state network to 
strike on March 13th and 19th, with the following agenda items: 
compliance with the minimum wage; reformulation of the Career, Positions 
and Remuneration Plans (PCCR); Direct elections for school principals. 
In Sergipe, education workers went on strike on March 22nd, organizing a 
march to defend and value the teaching profession and to oppose the 
privatization of the Sergipe Sanitation Company (DESO). There was also a 
specific strike in Aracaju (SE) at the beginning of the month. In 
Paraíba, also on March 22nd, the state school system went on strike 
demanding a salary adjustment above inflation; updating of the Career 
Plan, Positions and Salaries (PCCR); public service examinations; and 
improvements in working conditions.

The municipal school system of Fortaleza (CE) mobilized between January 
and February with successive strikes and large demonstrations. Education 
professionals secured a 4.62% raise, incorporation of 5.5% of the 
classroom teaching allowance into the base salary, and a 10% increase in 
the food allowance. In an assembly on February 7th, the category decided 
to create strategies to continue the struggle throughout the year, 
developing a calendar of mobilizations. In Crato (Ceará), teachers held 
a strike on March 14th demanding salary increases and improved working 
conditions.

Also in Ceará, education professionals in the state network revolted 
against actions by the leadership of the Apeoc union (Union of Public 
Servants of the Education Secretariats of the Municipalities of Ceará), 
which leaned towards accepting the proposals of the Elmano de Freitas 
(PT) government without allowing the category to discuss the 
construction of a strike. The assembly on April 4th, in Fortaleza, was 
closed by the union bureaucracy without a vote on a general strike, 
which provoked a strong reaction from the category, who even threw 
chairs at members of the union leadership.

It is fundamental to emphasize the importance of education 
professionals, regardless of the network or region of the country, 
demanding the true democratization of unions (their instruments of 
struggle), strengthening the base and combating personalistic and 
bureaucratizing projects that seek to hinder class autonomy and 
independence.

(Text originally published in Libera 180 (June-August 2024)).

https://socialismolibertario.net/educacao-de-luta-educacao-em-luta/
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