The union coalition of La Réunion has called for a week of actions in the national education sector, running until April 3, 2026. The peak of this mobilization will be a national strike on Tuesday, March 31, with a gathering in front of the rectorate in Saint-Denis. Teachers are protesting against job cuts and class closures at the beginning of the 2026 school year.
This call comes amidst tensions over the resources allocated to the public education system. The unions “denounce the government’s budget choices: job cuts and the blocking of any salary increases.”
The FSU-UNSA-CFDT-CGT-SUD union coalition is calling for a meeting at 9 a.m. in front of the Academy of La Réunion headquarters to make their demands heard. They are fighting for education, for teachers, and for children to learn in a conducive environment.
In La Réunion in 2026, 86 positions will be cut in the Academy at the start of the school year. This includes a reduction of 22 positions in primary education and 64 full-time positions in secondary education.
The unions are also demanding adequate staffing due to students with special needs. To address understaffing and ineffective replacements, they are calling for statutory recruitment and a massive plan for stabilizing precarious employment leading to permanent positions.
The union also requests salary increases and improved working conditions. They argue that the decrease in student numbers could be used to significantly lower class sizes, which currently have an average of 22 students in kindergarten and elementary school.
The union voices concern over the consequences of resource cuts on public service workers in schools. They emphasize the impact on class and workload for maintenance staff and teaching assistants due to increased student numbers per class.
The La Réunion union coalition urges the government to reconsider its short-term choices and demands a 2027 budget with measures to create jobs and increase salaries without conditions.
Tags: Education, Strike, Mobilization.
(Source:)
