"It means a stab in the trust that we could have in the Minister of Education. For it to be restored, the Minister must prove that he deserves it," said Mário Nogueira to journalists, after leaving the negotiation meeting for the recovery of service time, which ended without an agreement.

The union leader was referring to the statements made by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation who, even before receiving Fenprof, had considered that the federation "had never been part of the solution" and said that he sometimes doubted that education and teachers were his "main concern".

"This is regrettable, it deserves our repudiation and we told the Minister that we will not accept this at any time. This is the first negotiation process in which we are with him, he has no right to make such a statement," added Mário Nogueira, who considered the Minister's statements as "absolutely execrable".

On the other hand, he also accused the Minister of having had an undemocratic attitude in the way he conducted the last day of negotiations, by signing an agreement with the National Education Federation at the end of the morning and presenting this last proposal to the other trade union organisations, without any room for changes.

"It is the denial of negotiation and it is serious that this denial is made by the Ministry and by a trade union organisation that lends itself to do this errand for the Ministry, which is to create a context in which the others either want it, or too bad," he lamented.

Regarding the content of the proposal, Mário Nogueira explained that Fenprof could not accept the document, since the guardianship maintains that the recovery of the six years, six months and 23 days only serve for the purposes of career progression.

"This is an agreement that excludes teachers," said the union leader, estimating that around 25,400 who are already in the last levels of the teaching career will be left out.

"It would be hypocritical to make an agreement today and then go and ask for supplementary negotiation, or go to the Assembly of the Republic to ask for the rectification to consider the colleagues who are excluded," he justified, questioning how anyone could sign the agreement.

The proposal presented today by the guardianship - which foresees the recovery of service time at an annual average of 25% between 2024 and 2027 - was accepted by seven of the 12 trade union organisations: the National Education Federation (FNE), FENEI, SIPE, FEPECI, SPLIU, SNPL, and SIPPEB.

The Government had started the negotiations proposing the accounting of service time at an annual average of 20%, and the most recent proposal, presented a week ago, foresaw the return of 50% in the first two years, but maintained the five-year period initially proposed, with the accounting of 20% in 2026 and of 15% in 2027 and 2028.

According to the Minister, the measure will cover around 100 thousand teachers and, from 2027, when the total of six years, six months and 23 days has been returned, it will have an annual cost for the State of 300 million euros, as the executive had already estimated.

The five trade union organisations that refused the proposal - Fenprof, Stop, ASPL, Pró-Ordem and SEPLEU - will now assess with their associates the hypothesis of requesting supplementary negotiation for the recovery of service time.

Read Also: "Not with this text". Fenprof rejects agreement with the Ministry of Education (Portuguese version)