Strike at USP: teachers suspend strike – 10/10/2023 – Education

After holding an assembly this Tuesday (10), members of Adusp (Teachers’ Association of the University of São Paulo) decided, by majority, to suspend the strike at USP.

The student strike continues, in protest against the lack of teachers at the university. A student assembly to decide whether or not to continue the strike is scheduled for this Wednesday (11).

The professors reaffirmed their support for the student movement and decided that the mobilization will continue, for example, with the release of data on the loss of professors at the university.

In a letter sent to the USP rectory, Adusp also requests that there be no retaliation for joining the strike.

“We reaffirm our support for the movement and the students’ agendas, and we consider it essential that there is no type of retaliation for joining and defending the strike”, says the document.

It was also decided that teachers will carry out a campaign to “denounce the teaching hiring policy that implies competition between units, departments and/or groups of teachers”.

“The general assembly of Adusp draws the attention of the university’s teaching staff to the serious consequences of the policy of competition between units for clear professors, implemented through the so-called ‘merit notices'”, says a note released by Adusp.

STUDENTS ON STRIKE

Asked about the possibility that the suspension of the strike by teachers indicates that students can deliberate in the same way, Davi Bomfim, one two one directors of the movement, says that there are still many divergent positions among the strikers.

“We will only be able to have a position tomorrow,” said Bomfim, who has a degree in social sciences from USP.

The exception is the students at Escola Politécnica, who approved the end of the strike at the unit last Friday (6). The decision was taken after the rectory proposed hiring 148 temporary teachers, to be distributed to the most needy courses.

The strike began on September 18th. 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 admission of new teachers is the most debated topic, and at this point three demands are made:

• Automatic trigger return for hiring teachers: today, when a teacher dies, is dismissed or retires, there is no automatic replacement of the vacancy; students demand feedback from this mechanism for vacancies to be answered;
• Minimum number of educators (1,683) to ensure the functioning of the courses;
• 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.