The complaint that there were schools scheduling unjustified absences for teachers who joined the strike was recently made by S.TO.P. (Union of All Education Professionals) and, in recent days, the Observer discovered three cases of teachers, from the Santo António Primary and Secondary School, in Barreiro, to whom this happened, with the justification that they did not comply with the minimum mandatory services. (later declared illegal). Almost a year later, after being questioned by the Observatory last Wednesday, the Ministry chaired by Fernando Alexandre admitted the error and added that it decided to “dismiss” the faults.

In the response you can read that, taking into account the revocation of the November Arbitration Court’s decision, regarding the call for minimum services, “unjustified absences were ruled out, the teachers having already been notified.” This response reached the Observer at 7:37 p.m. this Monday, but the teachers at this school in Barreiro were only informed that their absence record had been cleared about 10 minutes later, at 7:45 p.m.

Asked about the exact moment in which the unjustified absences were withdrawn, Fernando Alexandre’s Ministry refused to respond. And he also did not comment on the previous minister’s silence on the issue.

The strike of three Barreiro teachers

Going back to June 2023, three teachers from the Santo António school, in Barreiro, went on strike at the final evaluation meetings of different classes. “On June 12, I participated in the strike in the final meetings of the 2022/2023 academic year, corresponding to the third period, that is, the most important meetings. There were meetings between two ninth grade classes,” one of the teachers at the Santo António school, in the Lisbon district, who asked not to be identified, told the Observer.

The union to which he belongs, S.TO.P., was one of the organizations that called for a strike “for all procedures, including meetings, leading to the final evaluations” for this Monday. At that moment, the The Arbitration Court established minimum services, decision that involves publishing “a nominal list of teachers” who have to provide services, something that the director of this Barreiro school did not do, the teacher accuses. On the contrary, Manuela Espadinha sent emails calling all the teachers.

In one of these communications – sent at 11:18 a.m. on June 12 – to which El Observador had access reads: “I call on ALL teachers of the promotion councils of 9° E and 11° A to comply with the minimum services decreed… “.

Total, Three teachers from this Barreiro school exercised their right to strike on June 12 – given the lack of a nominal list – and all suffered the same consequence: they had unjustified absences and disciplinary procedures were initiated (but shelved as part of the August papal amnesty).

In recent days, El Observador contacted the director of the institution by message, who refused to give statements, claiming that he was on vacation.

“The strike is not an offense, it is a temporary suspension of the employment contract,” the coordinator of the S.TO.P., André Pestana, points out to the Observer. And he highlights that also in Guimarães, Esmoriz (Aveiro district) and Amarante (Porto district) there are “reports of persecution.”

The school did not back down on the relationship decision

The scheduling of unjustified absences was not communicated to any of the three teachers at this school in Barreiro. And not even when the Lisbon Court of Appeal considered illegal minimum services, Initially decreed in June, the school administration reversed the decision.

I was left with “one less day of work in my career at the expense of these absences,” lamented one of the teachers, given the ministry’s decision to cancel the absences. But there are more complex cases, such as that of a teacher from the same school who had two unjustified absences for going on strike on June 12 and 13.

The day on which an unjustified absence is scheduled “does not count towards the calculation of service time for retirement” and does not contribute “to the calculation of service time for candidacy for the national teaching competition, running the risk of being surpassed by others.” colleagues” with the working days numbered, continues the same teacher.

After submitting several “requests to the school management to eliminate the absences,” in an attempt to resolve the situation that had been occurring since June, one of the teachers submitted a “Administrative appeal addressed to the former Minister of Education, João Costa.” We were in February 2024 when this happened, but since then there has been no response, he assures the Observer.

According to André Pestana, the list of the 10 professionals harmed “by last year’s fight” had already reached the current head of Education even before the questions sent by the Observer. More or The ministry led by Fernando Alexandre announced the decision last week – five days after questions were asked about Barreiro’s three teachers.