Madrid teachers' strike committee demands talks as government puts raise cost at 665 million

Strike committee demands talks

The Comité de Huelga Mixto, a grouping that includes CCOO, UGT, CGT, CNT and STEM, has filed a formal request asking councillor Mercedes Zarzalejo for an urgent meeting before any further court action. The committee wants what it calls a 'real and effective negotiation' and warns that it will weigh legal steps if the Consejería keeps refusing to open talks. It points to article 8.2 of Royal Decree-law 17/1977 of 4 March on labour relations, which requires negotiation from the moment a strike is notified and while it runs. The indefinite strike in public non-university education began on 14 October.

“This request is a new opportunity for the Consejería to get the situation back on track through dialogue and avoid turning the conflict into a legal matter.”

The committee presented the request as a way to settle the dispute without going to court, though it did not rule out legal action.

Meeting with concertada and private sector

The committee's main grievance is a meeting the councillor has scheduled for 27 October 2026 with FSIE Madrid, which the committee describes as the majority union in the concertada, private and disability care sectors. It called the decision 'especially outrageous' because the Consejería will not recognise the strike committee as a counterpart while it convenes those sectors. The committee said it does not question the struggle of those workers for better agreements. Its complaint is about priorities, and it accuses the councillor of continuing a campaign of defamation and criminalisation against public-school teachers. It also described the meeting as evidence of different levels of openness to dialogue depending on the education sector.

Pay figures and cost warnings

The regional government calls it 'absolutely false' that Madrid's teachers are the worst paid in Spain, saying their gross salary ranks among the six highest of the common-regime communities. Zarzalejo put the annual payroll cost of the 600-euro linear raise at 665 million euros. She tied that figure to the department's overall budget.

“Staff spending already accounts for almost half of the Consejería's budget, with about 3,500 million of the roughly 7,000 million for 2026.”

The Madrid specific complement is 798.41 euros a month, compared with 708.37 euros in Asturias and 720.83 euros in Catalonia. A newly qualified primary teacher or a first-year interim earns 2,582.48 euros gross a month in 14 payments, while a secondary teacher in the same position earns 2,924.79 euros. With two trienios and a sexenio, the figures rise to 2,763.47 euros for primary and 3,125.66 euros for secondary. Sources at the Consejería put the wider cost of the union demands, salary increases plus reduced teaching hours, at 1,400 million euros a year, and warned that the package would amount to a 'quiebra' of the system.

Madrid798.41

Catalonia720.83

Asturias708.37

Madrid

798.41 EUR per month

Catalonia

720.83 EUR per month

Asturias

708.37 EUR per month

Data from the article text

What the unions are asking for

The unions want teaching hours cut to 17 per week in secondary, vocational training and special regime, and to 22 in infant and primary education. They also seek lower class sizes, a 600-euro monthly raise, less bureaucracy and better school facilities, including climate control. Further demands include a full-time administrative assistant per centre, removal of asbestos and an end to phased construction. The teachers also want the bilingual model scrapped, along with measures against segregation.

Protest in Gran Vía and government measures

On 26 October, the 13th day of the strike, several hundred teachers gathered outside the Consejería on Calle de Alcalá and then marched towards the Gran Vía. Police vans stopped them between Clavel and Alcalá streets, and tense moments followed at a police cordon. The protesters blocked the avenue for about an hour, and traffic was restored around 14:00. Teacher José Luis Carretero, a secondary teacher at the protest, described the reasons for the demonstration.

“We are here because we are demanding improvements for public education.”

Separately, the regional government said it will begin work in 2027 to improve climate control and accessibility at 75 nursery schools and institutes. It also plans to process a new decree to strengthen the authority of teachers and speed up disciplinary measures over classroom coexistence problems.