Thousands of teachers across the Valencian Community have been notified of salary deductions for strike days, but many say the cuts cover more days than they actually took part in industrial action. Information from information confirmed by elDiario.es, the regional government under Juanfran Pérez Llorca has begun deducting pay for the first two weeks of the recent education strike from June payslips. Teachers say official emails told them deductions would apply to absences between May 11 and May 22, at around 170 euros per day.
The STEPV union has received a surge of complaints from educators who say they were penalized for more strike days than they observed. Notifications sent through the Ovidoc platform have flagged several irregularities: some staff assigned to mandatory minimum services still had pay docked, while others on approved leave or with justified absences were also affected. In some cases, deductions cover more days than employees actually took part in the strike. STEPV is preparing a standardized complaint form for affected staff seeking corrections. They must submit it both to school management and to the relevant Territorial Directorate through the General Single Request procedure. The practical question is whether each employee’s payroll record matches their individual strike participation, leave status, justified absences, and minimum-service assignment.
The strike began on May 11 and continued until June 12, with five weeks of widespread walkouts and demonstrations by Valencian teachers. Subsequent coverage reported that many teachers took part for between five and 15 days, while more than 800 reportedly maintained the action for 23 working days. Those differences help explain the wide variation in deductions between employees and why individual records matter. During the strike, union representatives and regional education authorities, led by Consellera Carmen Ortí, held more than ten meetings. Negotiations continued after the strike was suspended and ran until late July. The parties agreed to reduce bureaucratic workload, an agreement backed by a majority of unions, while salary and Valencian-language agreements received minority support. STEPV, CCOO, UGT, CSIF, and ANPE took part in the negotiations, though their support varied by measure.
After consulting teachers following June 12, the three unions maintaining the indefinite strike, STEPV, CCOO, and UGT, agreed to suspend industrial action. But the broader dispute remained unsettled: ElPlural reported that 90% of teachers consulted rejected the partial salary agreement and 84% opposed signing the language block. Outstanding demands covered staffing and class sizes, as well as pay, infrastructure, inclusion, bureaucracy, vocational training, and language policy. The unions have sought further talks and warned that protests or renewed strike action could follow if there is no progress.
The Conselleria d’Educació says negotiations have not broken down and that unresolved issues can be addressed through the ordinary bargaining forums. Daniel McEvoy, the department’s secretary autonòmic, said the administration remained willing to negotiate and unions could raise any issue in those forums. STEPV, CCOO, and UGT continue to press for meetings on pending matters. The Conselleria cancelled one scheduled meeting, citing work related to damage from dana Adam, but said it remained willing to negotiate.
The payroll disputes come amid heightened tension in the region’s education sector. The scale of the deductions and reported irregularities have added to teachers’ frustration, as they feel their core demands remain unresolved. The situation echoes other recent controversies in Spain involving public-sector actions, including the disruption during a minute of silence for Venezuelan earthquake victims at a football match in Guadalajara. The incident drew widespread attention and debate, as detailed in this related report.
The Valencian Community has a long tradition of active teacher unions and frequent negotiations with regional authorities. STEPV, part of Intersindical Valenciana, is one of the region’s most influential education unions. As CCOO PV representative Óscar Ortiz has framed the dispute, the strike concerns both “decent wages” and the defence of public services, including education. Unions have also raised concerns about replacement vacancies and class sizes. Salary deductions for strike participation are standard practice in Spain, but disputes over how participation is recorded can deepen industrial tensions. The current controversy forms part of a wider disagreement over working conditions and the management of public education resources.
