The school year starts on February 26 across most of Argentina. But this year, classrooms could remain empty as teaching unions mull provincial and national strikes to demand wage negotiations. The government has also declined to pay an annual fund that contributes to teachers’ salaries nationwide.
The national Confederation of Argentine Education Workers union (CTERA by its Spanish initials) will meet on Thursday to decide whether to take industrial action.
“The government told us that there would be salary negotiations,” CTERA leader Sonia Alesso told Radio Mitre on Saturday. “We’ll see what happens this week, and if they don’t call for a negotiation, we’ll discuss what measures to take.”
“Argentina is a federal country, therefore education is the governors’ responsibility,” President Javier Milei told La Red radio station on Thursday, adding that provinces “will have to pay for [the teachers’ fund] with their own money.”
He also said provincial governments “should stop organizing charity concerts and pay teachers, instead of hiring artists for political propaganda.”
Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni said last week that the government was considering opening wage negotiations soon, but a decision had yet to be made.
In Argentina, national negotiations set the minimum wage for teachers countrywide. This is then used to set provincial wages.
Public school teacher salaries are funded by the provinces, but the national government pays them a sum of around 10% of the teachers’ salary, known as “teachers’ incentive.”
This year, Milei is refusing to deposit the money in the Teachers’ Incentive National Fund (FONID, in Spanish), saying the government will not renew the fund. The previous government had renewed it for two years in January 2022.
The FONID was created in 1998 and has been paid consistently until now. Another fund for teachers in poorer provinces, known as “compensation fund,” was not paid this year, either.
Governors including Axel Kicillof in Buenos Aires province and Gustavo Valdés in Corrientes decided in January to pay teachers the remaining money from provincial resources. However, others have warned they cannot afford to follow suit.
In Congress, opposition deputies have filed bills to reestablish the FONID and make it permanent, rather than requiring periodic renewal.
You may also be interested in: Argentina’s minimum wage: talks fall through amid protests
Teachers consider strike to demand salary negotiations
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19.02.2024
The school year starts on February 26 across most of Argentina. But this year, classrooms could remain empty as teaching unions mull provincial and national strikes to demand wage negotiations. The government has also declined to pay an annual fund that contributes to teachers’ salaries nationwide.
The national Confederation of Argentine Education Workers union (CTERA by its Spanish initials) will meet on Thursday to decide whether to take industrial action.
“The government told us that there would be salary negotiations,” CTERA leader Sonia Alesso told Radio Mitre on Saturday. “We’ll see what happens this week,........
© Buenos Aires Herald
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