The strike on 8 September is still on despite 1,830 educational reinforcements

The Govern is starting the school year with a staff of 94,422 professionals, 1,830 more than at the start of last year. Of these, 1,103 are new teachers and lecturers, and another 531 are educational support staff, such as educators, social integrators, and specialists linked to inclusion.

One of the biggest reinforcements is focused on welcoming newly arrived students. Catalonia will have 2,141 welcome classrooms, about 500 more than at the end of the previous year, and these will be limited to 18 students per teacher. There will also be 204 new places in special education centres, with an investment of 6.3 million euros.

For USTEC, however, these measures do not resolve the conflict that led to months of protests during the last school year. The union argues that much of what has been announced was already part of previously negotiated commitments and is calling for new proposals on reducing class sizes, inclusive education, infrastructure, school climate control, closure of groups in public schools, and educational funding.

The organisation maintains its goal of achieving educational investment equivalent to 6% of GDP (PIB) and is also calling for Catalan to be strengthened as the main language of instruction. On this last point, it is worth clarifying the data: available studies do not show that only one in four students generally uses Catalan regularly. They do indicate, for example, that only about one in four sixth-year primary students always use it when working with classmates in the classroom.

Teachers will also receive a new annual improvement supplement of 700 euros this year. This amount is in addition to the increase in the specific supplement for 2026, of just over 800 euros a year depending on the teaching body, which began to be paid in May. The pay agreement was backed by CCOO, UGT y ASPEPC-SPS, but it has not resolved the dispute with the unions that are still protesting.

USTEC claims that since 13 July there has been no effective negotiation with Education and has even called for Salvador Illa to intervene personally if the Conselleria fails to unblock the conflict. CGT e Intersindical are also maintaining pressure as the school year begins.

Niubó announced on Monday that this week she will hold meetings with the unions and specific talks with those calling the strike to try to find a solution before the 8th. The minister argues that the situation has changed compared to the start of last year due to the agreements reached and the increase in resources, but has acknowledged that a strike on the first day is not the start to the year the Govern was hoping for.

For families in Barcelona, for now the calendar remains unchanged: classes start on Tuesday 8 September. What remains to be seen is the extent of the strike in schools, the minimum services set by the Generalitat and, before that, whether this week's negotiations manage to change a call that USTEC is keeping active.

UPD: The Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, will meet separately this Thursday 3 September with USTEC y CGT, the two unions maintaining the strike call for the first day of term. USTEC acknowledges that calling a strike on 8 September carries risks, but considers it "difficult" to call it off at this stage and will attend the meeting aiming for the Generalitat to reopen negotiations on class sizes, inclusive schooling, staffing and funding. The meeting comes after Educació claimed it has already implemented 96% of the measures scheduled for these dates in the agreements signed with CCOO, UGT y ASPEPC-SPS, a figure USTEC questions. With less than a week to go before classes resume, the strike therefore remains fully called and Thursday's meeting will be the last significant attempt to break the deadlock before the 8th.