Strike at USP: students decide to maintain strike – 10/09/2023 – Education

Students from USP (University of São Paulo) decided to keep the stoppage of activities in protest against the lack of teachers.

The decision was taken at an assembly held on Monday night (9), at FFLCH (Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences).

While waiting for the assembly to begin, students were informed by colleagues that the negotiation committee was still in the rectory.

In the first part of the assembly, members of the committee said that the meeting, according to the strikers, was tense, because the rectory, represented by the vice-rector, Maria Arminda Arruda, did not agree to discuss points such as the increase in the permanence allowance for EACH students (School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities), USP Leste.

On the other hand, the students celebrated the promise of building a daycare center in the unit and a promise from the administration to meet with employees at the USP Oceanographic Institute about the layoffs announced by the university, which have sparked protests.

This Tuesday (10), the strikers hope to hold another committee meeting at the rectory, at 2pm. If the agenda is not confirmed, an event will be held in front of the rectory in the early afternoon.

The demand for the immediate replacement of teachers and technicians, the so-called automatic trigger, in the case of death, dismissal or retirement, on a permanent basis was approved as a priority agenda — and not restricted to the period of the current administration, which ends in 2025.

A new general strike meeting at 6:30 pm, and an event at the Polytechnic School at 2 pm were also approved for next Wednesday (11).

The strike movement also released a letter about the mobilization. The document calls for dialogue and openness to the demands of students, technicians and teachers, in addition to ensuring that there are no reprisals.

“We reiterate the importance that students are not held responsible or reprimanded for a legitimate movement that we have built.”

The strike began at the end of September. The strikers summarize their demands in five areas: hiring teachers; increase in student living aid; structural improvements at USP Leste; promotion of indigenous entrance exams; and valuing student rights. The admission of new teachers is the most debated topic.

In an attempt to end the strike, the USP rectory offered last Wednesday (4) the hiring, within 45 days, of 148 temporary professionals, to be distributed to the most needy courses. Afterwards, these vacancies would become effective.

The proposal divided the protesters, and the return to activities began to be debated in directories and associations. On Friday (6), students at the USP Polytechnic School approved the end of the strike at the unit.

Members of Adusp (Association of Teachers at the University of São Paulo) decided to remain on standby until Tuesday (10). They intend to follow the directives of the students participating in this Monday’s meeting.

UNDERSTAND THE CLAIMS

Students from all USP units in the capital joined the strike started due to the lack of teachers at the institution. The movement was started by FFLCH (Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences) on September 18th. The organizers managed to expand the movement to campuses in the interior of São Paulo as well.

Students summarize their demands in five areas: hiring teachers; increase in student living aid; structural improvements at USP Leste; promotion of indigenous entrance exams; and valuing student rights.

The acquisition of new teachers is the most debated topic. Students present three demands at this point:

• Automatic trigger return for hiring teachers: Today, when a teacher dies, is dismissed or retires, the vacancy is not automatically replaced. Students demand feedback from this mechanism for vacancies to be answered;
• Minimum number of educators (1,683) to guarantee the functioning of the courses: this number is based on the return of the ratio of the number of students to the number of professors that USP had in 2014;
• End of the notice of excellence or merit: For students, this criterion is absolutely unfair and does not allocate new vacancies to units that need teachers.