Students May End Up
Paying The High Price of
Teachers Strike
The almost four weeks of
school many secondary
students have lost due
to the teachers strike
is worrying many sectors
who are looking to
recover the lessons
lost.
The high cost of the
strike will most likely
be paid by the students
who will not have
sufficient time to
prepare for the national
exams.
The teachers are no into
their 22nd of not giving
classes and has forced
the Ministerio de
Educación Pública (MEP)
to push back the exams
and is asking students
to take advantage of the
extra time to study for
the exams at home and
without the lessons of a
teacher.
The teachers, members of
the APSE teachers union,
are on strike demanding,
among other things, pay
equity and have vowed to
stay on strike
indefinitely, refusing
an agreement reached
between MEP and union
officials.
However, the strike,
with is not supported by
the other teachers
unions like ANDE, the
largest of the teachers
unions, could end at any
moment.
Leonardo Garnier,
minister of education
has threatened to
forcing by law the
teachers back to work,
if necessary, and is
adamant that the
students complete the
200 school year.
One of the options that
Garnier announced
yesterday is that the
MEP will stop paying the
salary of striking
teachers.
The strike laws in Costa
Rica allow workers on
strike to continue to
collect their regular
salaries.
The minister is showing
concern of the failed
attempts to conciliate
an end to the strike and
has vowed not to pay the
striking teachers on
April 30.
For the part, the
president of the APSE,
Beatriz Ferreto, called
the move as "blackmail".
The union leader added
that any salary holdback
is unlawful and can only
be done so by an Labour
Court order declaring
the strike action
illegal.
According to Garnier,
one has to be reasonable
at the negotiation table
so that an agreement can
be reached. In this
case, the minister, says
the teachers are being
unreasonable in the
negotiations and that
they keep asking for
things that they know
well the MEP cannot
give, an example is the
demand that any salary
increase be reatroactive
to January.
The striking teachers
are expected to march on
Casa Presidencial today. |
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