The Generalitat, Catalonia's regional government, is preparing to split talks with teachers into two separate tracks before schools reopen in September: one on pay and working conditions, and another on wider education reform. The move matters for families, pupils and school staff because the last academic year ended with a long teachers' strike, no final agreement and a warning from the USTEC union that stoppages could resume when classes return.

According to reporting published on Tuesday by El Confidencial, citing department sources, the Catalan Education Department is trying to get ahead of a renewed labour conflict by separating salary negotiations from debate over the school system itself. Department spokespeople declined to make an official public statement in the source material.

For readers new to the local system, the Generalitat is the Catalan government, and the Departament d'Educació is its Education Department. ESO refers to compulsory secondary education, the stage most students complete at age 16.

Pay talks and education debate would run on different tracks

The reported plan is to discuss wage demands from unions such as USTEC and CGT in one forum, while using a separate channel for questions about how schools are run and how results can improve.

That would mark a clear break from the approach unions including USTEC and CGT have defended, which has tended to mix labour demands with criticism of the education model. In the source reporting, people close to USTEC said the union is expected to reject any formal separation of the negotiating tables.

The political context is sensitive. El Confidencial described the dispute with teachers, alongside repeated Rodalies rail disruption, as one of the biggest management problems faced by the government of Catalan president Salvador Illa.

A rejected pay deal has shaped the new strategy

The Education Department had offered a salary improvement agreement for teachers covering 2026 to 2029. The official department document describes an salary improvement agreement for the teaching workforce.

El Confidencial reported the package as worth 450 euros a month over four years. USTEC, however, publicly criticised the proposal in May, arguing the increase was far smaller in practice. In a union statement, USTEC said: "No són 400 euros, són 120 en 4 anys".

The deal then went to a teachers' consultation. The Catalan Education Department published the consultation results on 19 June, and USTEC also published its own result page. Both show the agreement was rejected.

  • The department's published consultation result is available in an official PDF dated 19 June 2026.
  • USTEC said 65.1% voted against the agreement in its consultation result.
  • El Confidencial reported that the rejection weakened USTEC before the next round of union elections and strengthened CGT.

USTEC currently represents about 40% of teachers, according to the source reporting. After the failed deal, the union's spokesperson Iolanda Segura was quoted as saying: "Ara hem de pensar què li demanem a la Generalitat".

"Ara hem de pensar què li demanem a la Generalitat".

That quote, as reported by El Confidencial, captures the uncertainty after months of strikes and protests ended without a settled platform acceptable to the teaching assemblies.

Minister promises a new listening channel for schools and families

Education minister Esther Niubó had already signalled a separate route for wider discussion about the school system during a recent control session in the Catalan parliament, the Parlament. In the source reporting, she said the department would open a "new channel" to hear the sector's deeper concerns and to hold a "public, broad and constructive" debate on improving education.

According to the department position described in that report, this channel is not intended to negotiate teachers' salaries. Instead, it would involve meetings with school leadership teams, teachers and families, organised by territory under the coordination of the regional education services.

"El sistema necessita més capacitat d'escolta, reflexió i confiança".

The article says these meetings are due to begin immediately and continue for at least the first term of the next school year. For parents and school communities, that means any discussion about classroom model, school climate or educational priorities is likely to happen outside the pay dispute itself.

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Why the reform debate is now under pressure

The pressure for a broader education debate is linked to official indicators showing weaker outcomes in recent years. The Catalan Education Department's statistics page on graduation rates shows the ESO graduation rate fell from 93% in the 2019–2020 school year to 87% in 2023–2024.

Separately, the department's 2026 education yearbook and its indicators page on early school leaving place early leaving at around 13.5% in 2025, after previous declines. Those figures are available through the department's 2026 education yearbook and related statistics pages.

What remains unresolved is whether unions that want pay, staffing and teaching model debated together will take part in a split process. The source reporting says USTEC, CGT and Intersindical also share a demand for Niubó to leave office, while UGT, CCOO and Profesores de Secundaria have aligned themselves with the Generalitat's position.

For now, the clearest next step is procedural: salary talks and the new territorial listening meetings are expected to run separately as the first school term approaches in September.

Primary sources: Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Departament d'Educació de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Departament d’Educació, Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d’Educació, Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d’Educació, Generalitat de Catalunya, Idescat (Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya), Departament d'Educació de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Educació de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Reported by Source Text Link, USTEC·STEs (Sindicat d'Ensenyament de Catalunya), USTEC·STEs, El Confidencial.