Teachers Continue
Strike, Protest March
Planned For Wednesday
The ministeroo de
Educación Pública (MEP),
by way of paid ads, is
pleading for the
teachers of the
Asociación de Profesores
de Segunda Enseñanza
(APSE) union to return
to the classroom and
stop hurting the
students.
The teachers have been
on strike for weeks and
although union leaders
and MEP officials
reached an agreement
early last week, the
teachers voted down the
deal and decided to
continue on strike.
Leonardo Garnier,
minister of Education,
said that his officials
have tried to reach an
settlement with the
striking teachers to no
avail and had been
considering legal action
to force the teachers
back to work. However,
Garnier said that he
chose to go with a
public campaign to
appeal to the conscience
of the educators.
APSE union leaders say
that they will continue
with the indefinite
strike action and that a
protest march is being
planned for Wednesday in
downtown San José
leading to Casa
Presidencial where they
will attempt to force
the government to their
demands.
The teachers are asking
for pay parity to other
public service employees
and are demanding that
the increase be
retroactive to January.
Garnier has made it
clear that the
government does not have
in the budget to meet
the full demands of the
teachers and is asking
them what have they
accomplished in the last
several weeks of strike
action,
APSE is one of several
teachers unions. The
others, following the
decision of the largest
of the teachers union,
ANDE, have refused to
join APSE in the strike
action. |
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