Education sets minimum services for the early childhood strike on October 6

The Department of Education and Universities has established the minimum services to guarantee essential services during the general strike of the education sector for the first cycle of early childhood education (0 to 3 years), scheduled for October 6, 2026, from 00:00 to 24:00 hours, throughout the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands. The decision is formalized through the Resolution of the Minister of Education and Universities, proposed by the Director General of Early Childhood, Attention to Diversity and Educational Improvement, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) no. 125, of October 3, 2026 (Sec. III, p. 53699, reference 9881).

The call was formulated by the CCOO Teaching Federation before the Department, through registry GOIBE713136/2026, and affects all workers in the sector, regardless of the legal nature of their relationship (civil servant, labor, or employed by a third party). The General Union of Workers (UGT) and the Intersindical Workers’ Union of the Balearic Islands (STEI) have joined the call.

The established minimum services

The resolution establishes that a minimum of two professionals must remain at the center simultaneously throughout the strike to attend to any emergency and guarantee the safety and protection of the children, taking into account their chronological age and their degree of autonomy. The minimum staff is as follows:

• The director or the person replacing them, in the exercise of their functions, who must guarantee the opening of the center during the school day and must remain there during the strike situation.
• One early childhood educator or teacher for every three units or fractions thereof.

The regulation reminds that the opening of the centers must be guaranteed to allow access for students and workers who do not exercise the right to strike, as well as the safety of the children, who must be able to exercise the fundamental right to education.

Who must cover them and how

The supervision and designation of the staff who must attend to the minimum services correspond to the head of each center. These services must be covered preferentially by staff who do not support the strike; if this is insufficient, the vacancies must be covered mandatorily. Companies managing the service must adopt the necessary measures to implement the minimum services in accordance with current legality.

Failure to comply with the obligation to attend to the minimum services implies responsibilities and may be sanctioned in accordance with the applicable regulations. The resolution specifies that these measures do not imply any limitation of the rights that the regulations governing the strike recognize for the affected personnel.

Negotiation and background

The minimum services were negotiated in the meeting held on September 30 at 11:30 a.m., with the participation of union representatives and, on behalf of the Department, the head of the Human Resources Department, the head of the Department of Schooling and Foreign Languages, the head of the Department of Planning, Educational Organization and Payroll of Concerted Centers, the head of the Department of Early Childhood, Attention to Diversity and Educational Improvement, and a technician from the Institute for Early Childhood Education (IEPI), acting as secretary. No proposal for minimum services was included in the documentation sent by the organizers.

The resolution is framed within Article 28.2 of the Constitution and Article 10 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, of March 4, on labor relations, and invokes the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court regarding the balance between the right to strike and essential services. It also refers to the XIII State-wide Collective Agreement for child care and education centers, signed on March 5, 2025, and published in BOE no. 135, of June 5, 2025.

Signature and appeals

The resolution is electronically signed by the proposing director general, Neus Riera Estarellas (September 30, 2026), and by the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera Alemany (October 1, 2026). Against the resolution, which exhausts the administrative route, the following may be filed:

• An optional appeal for reversal (recurso de reposición) before the Minister of Education and Universities within one month from the day following publication.
• A contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands within two months.

The publication of these minimum services is the piece that determines how nurseries and first-cycle early childhood centers will operate on the day of the strike. For families, it specifies which centers must open and with how many professionals; for owners and managing companies, it establishes coverage obligations and responsibilities in case of non-compliance.

Source: Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands, no. 125, October 3, 2026, Sec. III. Other provisions and administrative acts, p. 53699 (official reference: 9881).