The coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) thought this Sunday that the PSD’s proposal to pay teachers’ service time in phases over five years is “fair”, but the position of the Social Democrats is “hypocritical”.
“The proposal is very fair, the position of the PSD is hypocritical, because when it could have approved the proposal, when there were votes in the Assembly of the Republic to be consistent and approve the proposal, the PSD did not approved. “, emphasized Mariana Mortágua.
The leader of the blocistas spoke at a press conference in Lisbon, at the end of a meeting of the party’s National Council – the highest body between the conventions – and was questioned about the proposal presented on Saturday by the president of the PSD, Luis. Montenegro, which aims for phased payment for five years of teacher service, with 20% allocated each year.
Mariana Mortágua alluded to May 2019, when the Prime Minister, António Costa, threatened to resign if the opposition in parliament approved full accountability for teachers’ service – a vote that the PSD ultimately took a position against.
“When the PSD had the votes and the opportunity to approve the measure, because there was no absolute majority, the PSD withdrew and sided with the government. It is thanks to this change of position that the teachers time did not count”, criticized.
Mortágua emphasized that “it is now that the PSD knows that there is an absolute majority – and therefore, based on the sum of votes in parliament, there is no way to approve this very fair measure for teachers – that presents this proposal” .
Asked whether BE plans to approve the Social Democrats’ measure, Mariana Mortágua referred to a “more detailed analysis”.
“BE is currently in favor of restoring service time. There is nothing to tell us that this needs to be phased in and that this cannot be done now. But I reserve the position for a more detailed analysis,” responded, emphasizing that “any proposals that give teachers back what is rightfully theirs are fair.”
In particular, in 2019, the parliamentary committee on education approved an amendment to a government decree, with only the PS voting against, which stipulated that the term of service of teachers was nine years, four months and two days. date by education unions.
In the final global vote, PS, PSD and CDS-PP rejected the committee’s text, which had the support of BE, PCP and PEV, and the PAN abstained.
With the outcome of this vote, the government decree came into effect, restoring only two years, four months and 18 days of service (referring to the period between 2011 and 2017) during which teacher careers had been frozen.
Source: DN
