Hundreds of schools are expected to close tomorrow (February 20) due to a one-day strike called by the school workers national federation.
“I’m sure we are going to have a major strike, with many hundreds of schools closed and the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Education,” federation spokesman Artur Sequeira told Lusa news agency.
As the Resident reported last week (see https://www.portugalresident.com/school-workers-announce-strike-for-february-20), at issue is the government’s plan to hand the running of schools over to municipalities, and the “precarious nature of most workers’ contracts”.
Sequeira pointed out that the average wage of school workers is around €550 and that most of the people hired these days were on temporary contracts and had no experience working with children.
If things do not change, he warned, his union will continue with “other means of protest”.
Sequeira added that tomorrow’s strike is meant to be a “clear sign” for any upcoming government that “workers will continue to demand better conditions”.
