Luís Montenegro hails historic agreement with majority of teachers syndicates
Portugal’s prime minister has hailed “the historic agreement” reached yesterday with the majority of teachers’ syndicates, considering that “it will put an end to a period of instability that was highly penalising” for Portuguese schoolchildren and their families.
“I would like to address a word of great confidence and respect to Portuguese State schools, to Portuguese teachers who yesterday had the opportunity, in close dialogue, to reach a historic agreement with the government that puts an end to a period of instability that was highly penalising for the interests of Portuguese schoolchildren and families,” he said in a statement to journalists.
At the end of today’s Council of Ministers, Luís Montenegro emphasised that the government “has gone further than was stated in previous commitments” and that recovery of teachers’ service time (frozen during the times of the Troika) “will be faster”.
“As leader of the opposition I made a commitment, repeatedly in the election campaign and now as prime minister in the discussion of the government’s programme, regarding the recovery of teachers’ length of service. It was possible to go further than the previous commitments,” he said, praising “loyal and transparent dialogue“.
The proposal presented on yesterday by the government – which provides for the recovery of length of service at an annual average of 25% between 2024 and 2027 – was accepted by seven of the 12 teachers’ union organisations in the negotiations: FNE (national federation of education), FENEI (national federation of teaching and investigation), SIPE (independent syndicate of teachers and educators), FEPECI (Portuguese federtation of professionals in education, teaching, culture and investigation), SPLIU (syndicate of teachers licensed by universities and polytechnics), SNPL (national syndicate of licensed teachers) and SIPPEB (syndicate of basic education teachers and educators).
The government had begun negotiations proposing that the length of service be accounted for at an annual average of 20%, while the most recent proposal, presented a week ago, provided for the return of 50% in the first two years, but maintained the five-year period initially proposed, with 20% being accounted for in 2026 and 15% in 2027 and 2028.
According to the minister of education, the measure will cover around 100,000 teachers and, from 2027, when the full six years, six months and 23 days have been returned, it will have an annual cost to the State of €300 million, as the executive had already estimated.
The five union organisations that rejected the proposal – FENPROF (national federation of teachers), Pró-Ordem, S.T.O.P. (syndicate of all teaching professionals), ASPL (graduate teachers union association) and SEPLEU (graduate educators and teachers’ union) – will now evaluate with their members the possibility of requesting additional negotiations on the recovery of length of service, writes Lusa.
