The work of education unions: Convincing politicians and recruiting teachers, even in the summer

PalmWhat is the task of the unions in the summer, a time when schools are empty, most teachers are on vacation, and, on paper, they should stem the daily vortex of disputes? "We are closely monitoring the selection processes for displaced teachers, the eliminated positions, and the teachers who are returning to the force. We monitor the allocation of service commissions, the competitive examination processes, the selection of temporary teaching positions, and we help people who have finished their degree and don't know how to access teaching. Because for teachers, union representative of the STEI, who estimates that there are 10 summer days when they can truly disconnect from work. The unions consulted agree on the same idea: "We have practically no vacation time. If anything, it starts in August, and it depends on how the temporary teacher allocations go. "It's usually about two weeks," explains Miquel Àngel Santos, of Alternativa Docent.

As in a legislative parliament, where the larger parties are more relaxed about distributing tasks, the smaller ones suffer more. Union elections award a number of released members based on their results. Joan Crespí, of SIAU, says it's common for him to receive "calls and WhatsApp messages during the night, in the early morning, on different topics, and even from people who aren't union members." "At all hours," he says. "I wake up in the morning and have dozens of messages and missed calls from the same number. We have to know how to put the brakes on, because there are few of us and we want to do everything," he explains. During his 25-minute conversation with ARABalears, Miquel Àngel Santos received three work calls.

Disinterested Teachers

Participation in union elections is low and has declined over the years, according to unions, who attribute this, among other reasons, to the demobilization of members, who are reluctant to join or get involved. "I think there is discredit, a lack of political and union culture, and a lack of understanding of the importance and need to join forces to achieve improvements," Nadal explains. However, union members are well aware of the widespread perception among teachers that people who work in unions are out of touch with the reality of schools, and that some engage in unionism because they don't want to work. "The loss of interest and apathy are due to the bad habits of recent years. Those who were released from prison didn't show up to work, unions that didn't fight for workers' rights and, by not complaining, received more resources from the Administration," accuses Crespí, who goes even further: "It's normal that there's so much abstention and people are in favor of something and then issue a public statement against it, to look good," he adds.

There are union members who have been released for years, even more than a decade, working full-time, far from the teaching they are supposed to defend. However, there are also others who are union representatives for a time and then return to their positions at the centers. It all depends on the functioning of each organization and their ability to take over. "I've been with STEI for many years, more than 10, and now people know me. I've never lost touch with teaching because it's a job I like. Now, I can understand the criticism of people who have been released for so many years," Nadal points out. For his part, Mario Devis, from CCOO, believes that it is necessary for the teams to be renewed and for "people with new perspectives to come in, enrich and help the union not to lose touch with reality", although he also believes that those with experience "know where they come from, where they are and where they are going".

In a context of disinterest among teachers in unions, the latter have been forced to transform their formulas to reach their potential voters. Years ago, before the boom Through social media and instant communication, union members went to each school and announced regulatory changes, as well as schedules for the main competitive processes and job allocations. "Now, they can find out all that information for themselves, because the Regional Ministry communicates it and publishes it in the media," explains Nadal. STEI has opted for instant messaging to quickly reach teachers. The union has different WhatsApp groups depending on the group, and also has a service to resolve queries immediately. "We are available all day on Facebook, Instagram... We respond at any time," explains Santos (Alternativa).

The volume of communication that unions generate practically every day means that, in the end, teachers receive the same information from each one. "Teachers have never had so much information as they do now. They receive summaries of everything that comes out. I think there's an excess of information that could even be considered spam. We're high school teachers, released from Alternativa Docent, and receive information via email from all the other unions because the management team at each school is required to.

Many sensitivities

The education sector is perhaps the sector with the most representative bodies of all groups: families, teachers, principals, private schools, preschools, school boards, etc. All of them are advisory. Regarding unions, the Public Education Sectoral Roundtable is the most visible body, to which the organizations with the best electoral results gain access, according to an electoral system with three constituencies that allows a union with fewer votes to enter the Roundtable and one with more to be excluded, as occurs in the political sphere.

Two state unions, UGT and CCOO, also have access, and are overrepresented by virtue of Article 33 of the Basic Statute of Public Employees. The law grants them a presence in the bargaining tables regardless of the votes they receive, because they are the majority unions at the state level, are present in all bargaining tables with the Ministry "and sign all the agreements," Devis argues. "There's union influence. If I sign an agreement with the Ministry, I then have to be present at all the regional committees where this agreement will be discussed, because we are an interlocutor with Madrid," he adds. ARA Baleares has attempted to speak with the USO union, the largest in the private sector, but the latter has declined.

Although the Sectoral Committee is a negotiating body, the unions assert that Education often sends them the documentation to be discussed with little notice, which hinders their work. "If we have a meeting on Monday, they might send it to us on Thursday night, and we can't review it or have time to make amendments. Sometimes they try to sneak in regulatory changes," asserts Nadal, who acknowledges the fact that, despite being a space for negotiation, what is voted on is not binding. Education can listen to what is said, but it doesn't have to comply. As for the teaching staff committees on each island, which are also made up of unions, they meet periodically, but their scope of influence is limited. "We limit ourselves to making some decisions, taking a position, and communicating a few things." "We have no power," Santos states.