The public education demonstration marched through central Madrid with between 35,000 and 70,000 people, according to the Government Delegation and the organisers. The strike will continue next week.
According to Noticias para Municipios, the public education system in Madrid concluded this Friday its third day of indefinite strike with a large march through the capital. The Government Delegation estimated attendance at 35,000 people, while the organising groups raised it to 70,000.
The concentration began in the late afternoon at Paseo del Prado, near the Botanical Garden and next to the Atocha roundabout, where groups from various neighbourhoods arrived. At six in the evening, the column moved north along Paseo del Prado to Plaza de Cibeles, ascended Calle de Alcalá, and ended at Puerta del Sol.
During the march, the demonstrators carried banners against the regional government's policies and called for the resignation of the Minister of Education, Science and Universities, Mercedes Zarzalejo. The teachers consider the demands of the faculty that she has rejected to be unacceptable.
We are teachers, not criminals.
In Plaza de Puerta del Sol, the march encountered a camp of groups advocating for the right to decent housing, which has been there for three weeks.
In the morning, thousands of teachers gathered in assembly at Retiro Park under the slogan “We stop, we decide.” The General Secretary of the CCOO Madrid Education Federation, Aída San Millán, explained that the faculty accepts that the strike will be prolonged because the Ministry refuses to negotiate.
The attendance figures do not match. CCOO places it at 60%, the Ministry lowers it to 26.7%, and CSIF, which maintains its own call, estimates it between 40 and 45%. The spokesperson for the Madrid Teachers' Union (STEM), Cristina Pérez, claims that these three days have already surpassed the mobilisation of the green tide in 2011.
The united committee, formed by CCOO, CGT, CNT, Solidaridad Obrera, STEM, and UGT, along with the platforms for Dignified Special Education, Less Teaching Hours, and We Want Vocational Training, has set the calendar for the second week of the strike. On Monday 19, there will be a concentration at 12:00 in front of the Ministry of Education. On Tuesday 20, dubbed “green Tuesday,” assemblies will be held in the centres. On Wednesday 21, there will be area assemblies and decentralised actions.
Thursday 22 will be the day of greatest mobilisation, with a concentration at 10:00 in front of the Madrid Assembly and a demonstration at 18:00 starting from Atocha and ending in front of the Ministry's headquarters.
For its part, CSIF will shift from a full day to partial strikes of two hours, from 9:00 to 11:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00, on the days 20, 22, 26, and 30 of October, intending to maintain them in November and December.
You may also like
