SANTIAGO, July 3 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Thousands of members of the Chilean Teachers’ Association rejected a proposal from the government in response to their demands and decided to continue with the national strike that is now in its fifth week.
In an assembly process held on Monday in all communes (municipalities) of the country, with the participation of about 50,000 teachers, 73.82 percent voted to reject the proposal of the Ministry of Education and continue unemployed.
Meanwhile, 24.08 percent favored the option of partially accepting the document and delegating on the union leadership to continue the dialogue. Besides, only 2.09 voted to return to the classrooms and accept the response given by the ministry.
President of the union, Mario Aguilar, said this vote is a clear signal for the authorities to give an effective response to the demands of the teachers, because several of them, who were very sensitive, were not taken into account by the Ministry of Education.
He pointed out that mobilizations will continue, and they will enlist the support of their colleagues from private schools as well as other social sectors and unions, ‘because this is not a cause of the teachers but of the entire Chilean society.’
He also called on teachers not to be intimidated and to remain firm in their demands. The latter seems to be an allusion to the threats of Education Minister Marcela Cibillos, who said salaries would not be paid to teachers who continued on strike, while President Sebastián Piñera called the strike illegal and demanded teachers return to the classrooms.
According to data from the Ministry of Education, the strike, which began on June 3, has since kept some 600,000 students without classes.
But with the passing weeks, teachers have been gaining more social support and a survey of the consultancy Cadem published Monday, reveals that more than 65 percent of the population support the strike.
Among the important demands that the Government has not accepted include, among others, the recognition of a historical debt since the 1990s, and the elimination of the reform in secondary education that seeks to remove the compulsory curriculum on the subjects of History, Physical Education and Arts. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
