Teacher Strike Action
Lukewarm
Teachers were on strike
yesterday, as the
Asociación de Profesores
de Segunda Enseñanza
(APSE) - teachers union
- called on its members
to abandon classes in an
indefinite action.
However, only a small
number of teachers
actually took part in
the action.
According to estimates
by the Ministerio de
Educación Publica (MEP)
- public education
ministry - only 10% of
the teachers were not in
their classrooms.
MEP minister, Leonardo
Garnier, said that the
majority of teachers not
attending classes was in
the rural areas of
Guanacaste and Upala,
among others.
The APSE called on its
membership to protest
the ongoing situation
with teacher salaries,
looking for an
equalization to salaries
of other public
employees.
Garnier said that the
MEP and APSE have been
in negotiations since
February and the meeting
that was to have taken
place last week was on
the condition that APSE
call of the strike
action. Garnier added
since the union did not
accept, the meeting was
put off to a later date.
However, according to
Beatriz Ferreto,
president of the APSE,
yesterday's strike
action was a total
success. Ferreto added
that, to the moment,
there has been no
contact with the MEP and
that the strike action
will continue and is
hopeful that more
teachers will join in
the strike action during
the coming days. |
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