Costa Rican Teachers
Threaten to Strike
The Costa Rican
organization Magisterio
en Accion, which groups
several teachers associations, has threatened
to go on strike to
prevent the beginning of
the 2008 school year,
because teachers were
excluded from a wage
increase.
Trade union leaders said
that a measure that will
benefit some 7,000
professionals working
for the Central
Government, including
administrative workers
at all ministries, was
approved recently.
However, since the
beginning of the talks,
it was clear that the
wage raise was for all
teachers, said Beatriz
Ferreto, president of
the Asociación de
Profesores de Segunda
Enseñanza (APSE) - the high
school teachers
association.
The exclusion of
teachers from the wage
increase affects 60,000
workers from the
educational sector.
Ferreto pointed out that
the authorities in
charge of implementing
the measure changed the
rules of the game in the
last minute, without
informing them. She
underlined that the
government made the
decision at a time when
teachers are going on
vacation.
She noted that during
their vacation period,
they would get ready to
demand respect for their
rights. "We are the most
organized and combative
group on strike in the
country, if they force
us, we will take to the
streets," the APSE
leader warned.
Ferreto recalled that
the teachers' struggle
for better salaries
began in 2003.
The 2009 school year
begins the first week of
February. |
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