Norma is part of the struggle of teachers who, for more than four weeks, have intensified forceful measures to demand a 100% salary increase from the provincial government. He denounces that they “feel manipulated” by union members. He claims that the only solution is to keep fighting until they are heard. “We are putting our efforts into this fight because they have ignored our claims for years.”
He lives in Apóstoles and teaches classes in the town of Azara, in a primary school where 500 students attend. The school has many building problems, the fans, for example, were compared by the teachers to the money they raise by holding raffles and festivals. He also says that the teachers’ and students’ bathrooms do not have water. That the students have a glass of milk where they only receive a mate cooked with milk, and that they break the bread in half, because there is not enough for everyone. All this is part of the claims they make to Governor Hugo Passalacqua.
Regarding salary claims, Norma affirms that for many years their salaries have been below the family basket. That this year they received a 5% increase, which in a salary represents 3,500 pesos, with 27 years of seniority. He works double shifts and his income barely reaches 700,000 pesos.
“How can we live on these salaries, when we have to spend 2,400 pesos on travel, when we get electricity bills that reach 180,000, 70,000 for internet, 20,000 for our phones.”
“To us what We are interested in providing good educational quality, and for that we need good salaries. They say we work 4 hours, but that’s only in front of the classroom, we do the rest at home, we even use our mobile data to talk to parents when they don’t understand something about the kids’ homework.”
“The government made an agreement with the official unions, and we, who grouped ourselves in self-convened groups, do not receive us.”
This Wednesday they will discuss new fighting measures. They don’t plan to lower their arms.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
