As the Socialist government deals with a wave of unhappiness over the cost of living crisis, tens of thousands of teachers took to the streets of Lisbon on Saturday in one of the largest protests in Portugal in recent years.
At the protest led by the FENPROF union, 55-year-old Portuguese language instructor Maria Coelho held a banner that read, ‘Respect,’ and lamented, ‘(We) have been badly treated for a long time.’
She continued, ‘We are here today and we will be here for many more days to come.’
More than 100,000 people are expected to participate in the protest, according to the union. There was no immediate attendance estimate from the police. Teachers and school employees in Portugal staged a large protest for the third time in less than a month.
Even in the highest pay bands, teachers typically make less than 2,000 euros per month, with the lowest paid earning around 1,100 euros ($1,174.25) per month. They also want career advancement to be accelerated by the government.
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