Education unions will take five days of action in May: ‘Staff are again not being heard’

On behalf of Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA), the Committee of Wise Men, led by Dirk Van Damme and Paul Yperman, developed seventy proposals for the professionalization of the teaching profession. When its report was published in December, the unions already responded critically.

ACOD Education, COC and VSOA Education have now decided to take action against the recommendations in the report. They dismiss them as “fantasies, ill-considered measures and recipes from the past”, which will not help to make education “high-quality and attractive”. “For many staff members, the proposals of the Committee of Wise Men are the opposite of what is necessary. The staff members, the real experts, are once again not being heard by policymakers. With our actions we want to give our members and anyone who wants to join us the opportunity to make that voice louder,” it said.

In concrete terms, in May they organize demonstrations on five different days in five different cities in all Flemish provinces. Antwerp will be the first on Tuesday, May 7, to follow later Ostend on Wednesday May 8, Leuven on Monday May 13, Hasselt on Tuesday, May 14 and finally Ghent on Wednesday, May 15. The actions will be accompanied by strike notices.

It is striking that the Christian union COV, the largest union for primary education, will not participate in the demonstration. Sitting at the table is currently the better option, the COV says in a response. The expert report finds the union “unbalanced”, with “too many measures aimed only at the teacher”. “Our members are longing for future prospects and a real career pact,” says Marianne Coopman of the COV. But this can only be achieved by conducting a social debate with all partners “in complete shelter”. “If there is no proper social consultation and our conditions are not taken into account, actions will inevitably follow from the COV. Enough time has already been lost.”