USP professors end strike, but continue mobilization with students

Professors who are part of the Professors’ Association of the University of São Paulo (Adusp) decided this Tuesday (10), by majority, to suspend the strike at the institution. However, the student strike continues, in protest against the lack of teachers at the university.

A student assembly is scheduled for this Wednesday (11) to decide whether or not to continue the strike.

The professors reaffirmed their support for the student movement and decided that the mobilization will continue, including the release of data on the loss of professors at the university. Furthermore, Adusp sent a letter to the USP rectory asking that there be no retaliation against professors who joined the strike.

The assembly also resulted in the decision that teachers will carry out a campaign to denounce the teaching hiring policy that involves competition between units and groups of teachers. The note released by Adusp highlighted the serious consequences of this policy.

“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 an excerpt from the letter.

In another section, the movement states that “the general assembly of Adusp draws the attention of all the university’s teaching staff to the serious consequences of the policy of competition between units for clear teachers, implemented through the so-called ‘merit notices’” .

The student strike, which began on September 18, covers five axes of demands: hiring teachers, increasing student retention assistance, structural improvements at USP Leste, promoting indigenous entrance exams and valuing student rights.

The admission of new teachers is the most debated issue, focusing on three main demands, including the return of the automatic trigger for teacher hiring.

The suspension of the strike by teachers, however, does not necessarily indicate a similar decision on the part of the students, according to Davi Bomfim, one of the movement’s directors, since there are still divergent opinions among the strikers.

An exception was observed among students at the Polytechnic School, who ended the strike last Friday (6) after the rectory committed to hiring 148 temporary teachers for courses with greater teaching shortages.