Hundreds of people demonstrated this Tuesday through the streets of the center of Palma to demand an improvement in the working conditions in the early childhood education sector for 0 to 3 year olds. The protest, framed within the state strike of nursery school educators, toured various points in the center of the city to make visible a conflict that remains stalled.

Around a hundred workers from the nursery schools, called by the CCOO, UGT, and STEI unions, have started a new day of strike this Tuesday with a protest in front of the Parliament. Various gatherings have taken place in recent weeks at the doors of the autonomous Chamber, which in this Tuesday's plenary session has once again debated the labor conflict caused in the 0-3 sector.

The first regional agreement for the education sector for 0 to 3 year olds in the Balearic Islands continues to be further away than ever. The employers' associations CECEIB and PIMEM refused this Monday, for the third time, to sign the document necessary to formally constitute the negotiating committee, an essential step to begin talks for an agreement that has been demanded for years by unions and early childhood education workers. The deadlock keeps alive the strike called for next June 16, which worker representatives anticipate will have significant participation. The employers' refusal clashes with the proposals agreed upon in July 2025 during the resolution of the conflict of the outsourced early childhood education centers in Palma, when a salary improvement was agreed upon and the door was opened to the negotiation of a regional agreement.

The trade unions CCOO, UGT and STEI Intersindical have announced the postponement of the strike for 0-3 year olds' education scheduled for this Tuesday, June 2. The organizations explain that the decision has been made "out of strict responsibility" and to guarantee the "legal protection of workers".

After half a year of deadlock, unions and employers have reactivated negotiations to move forward with the autonomous collective agreement for 0-3 year old nursery schools. The deadlock was broken this Monday in a meeting that lasted three hours and brought together the ministers of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, and of Labour, Public Function and Social Dialogue, Catalina Cabrer, as well as the unions CCOO, UGT and STEI, and the employers' associations CECEIB and PIMEM.

The labor conflict in the Early Childhood Education stage from 0 to 3 years has entered a particularly tense phase. The 0-3 Network has agreed to intensify mobilizations and call a general strike next Tuesday, June 2, throughout the Archipelago, with the support of CCOO, UGT, and STEI, continuing the strike of May 7. The protest aims to channel the growing discontent of a group that claims to feel neglected. According to the unions, both employers and the Government continue to fail to respond to the demands considered urgent by the sector's workers.

The employers in the 0-3 educational sector have once again stood up the unions in the meeting convened this Tuesday to establish the negotiating committee for the future regional agreement. This is the second time that CECE and PIMEM have not attended a call to formally initiate negotiations, a fact that has provoked indignation among CCOO, UGT, and STEI, who accuse the employers of intentionally blocking the process. “A year ago we agreed to start negotiations to homologate the conditions of the sector's workers and this is the second time they have stood us up,” denounced the head of Education 0-3 for CCOO, Pepa Ramis. According to her, the employers “intentionally block the process and turn their backs on the needs of the 0-3 workers”.

The three most representative unions ofCoinciding with the strike, the Xarxa 0-3, with union support, has called for rallies on the same May 7 at 6:00 PM in the Plaza de España in Palma, in Vara de Rey (Ibiza) and in the Plaza del Born (Ciutadella), with the aim of making the conflict visible and demanding immediate responses. These protests are a continuation of the mobilizations initiated in Mallorca, with rallies on April 27 and May 4. The call initially planned for May 11 has been canceled to coincide with the strike day.

The PSIB, MÉS per Mallorca, and Unides Podem denounced this Tuesday the situation of public education for 0-3 year olds in Palma, with criticism focused on the lack of budget execution and the reduction of places during the current legislature. The three parties appeared jointly to express their support for the public model of nursery schools and the demands of the workers, and warned of a "setback" in a stage they consider key for the development of children.

The PSIB, MÉS per Mallorca, and Unides Podem have denounced this Tuesday the situation of public 0-3 education in Palma, with criticisms focused on the lack of budget execution and the reduction of places during the current legislature. The three parties have appeared jointly to express their support for the public model of "escoletas" (nursery schools) and the demands of the workers, and have warned of a “regression” in a stage they consider key for the development of children.

The CCOO, UGT, and STEI unions have announced the call for three mobilizations in Mallorca to demand that the employers' associations in the 0-3 early childhood education sector, CECEIB and FEIPIMEB, sit down to immediately negotiate an autonomous collective agreement that dignifies the working and salary conditions of the workers.

Only six childcare centers (ages 0-3) in Mallorca applied for grants from the Consell (Island Council) to convert into educational nurseries, according to the requirements incorporated into the 2023 regulations. Of these, only one has met all the criteria and carried out the necessary structural and organizational reforms to qualify for the aid. The Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS) had allocated almost one million euros for the program, but only 40,000 euros (4%) were awarded to the beneficiary center. The Consell says it does not yet have a record of how many nurseries operate on the island, as they only require a municipal license. In May 2023, in accordance with the regulations, a three-month period was opened for centers to notify their existence, the first step to qualify for the grant, but most did not do so.

The Regional Ministry of Education and Universities has inaugurated the new Guillem Ballester i Cerdó nursery school in the municipality of Muro. This early childhood education center with capacity for 74 places is directly managed by the regional government. The Regional Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, and the Director General of Early Childhood, Diversity, and Educational Improvement, Neus Riera, participated in the inauguration ceremony, accompanied by the Mayor of Muro, Miquel Porquer.

The main union and employer organizations in the early childhood education sector reached an agreement this Monday to create a regional salary increase supplement for workers in indirectly managed daycare centers in the Balearic Islands. The agreement includes monthly supplements of between 200 and 400 euros depending on the professional category, an additional 60 euros for tutoring, 100 euros for teachers with a university degree, and annual supplement updates of 6% in 2026 and 2% in 2027. The agreement will be gradually implemented for all workers in September, starting from September 1st to August 1st, 2028.