- Title: ARGENTINA: Teachers strike in Buenos Aires
- Date: 25th August 2010
- Summary: TEACHERS AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS PROTESTING VARIOUS OF PROTEST VARIOUS OF EFFIGIES AND SIGNS AT PROTEST SIGN DEMANDING 35 PERCENT INCREASE
- Embargoed: 9th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Domestic Politics,Education
- Reuters ID: LVA1VY31JIWQWCR3DBN4XEAKYZ7O
- Story Text: Classrooms sat empty in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Tuesday (August 24) as teachers took to the streets demanding higher salaries and better conditions in schools.
According to local newspapers, 17 teachers' unions representing some 100,000 teachers and 3,000 public and private schools have banded to together to demand better treatment from the city government.
The strike is the 17th of its kind since Mauricio Macri took over as mayor of the city in 2007. Teachers won a 23 percent pay in gain in March, but say it does little against Argentina's high inflation.
At least 14 schools have also been taken over by students who complain of problems ranging from classrooms without heat to structures so debilitated they risk collapse.
At a protest Tuesday, teachers held signs likening Macri to Simpson's greedy factory owner Montgomery Burns. Others signs demanded another pay raise of 35 percent.
Eduardo Lopez, a leader of teachers' union leader, said teachers demands are diverse in the beleaguered school system.
"We are fighting for salaries, for working conditions, for not cutting classes, for scholarships, for lunches, for free books for our students, for uncensored knowledge," Lopez said.
Lopez added that the schools should be a place where students have advantages many don't find in their households.
"We want the best heaters for the kids who don't have heaters at home. We want the best schools for kids who live in precarious conditions, the best computers for the kids who don't have computers at home. That's what schools are for, to guarantee more for those who have less. That's what our forefathers dreamed. A public school guarantees equal opportunities and that means giving more to those who have less. And we are going to fight for them," he said.
The strike, which is scheduled to last 24 hours, is the first this year, but strikes have kept students out of classrooms for 24 days in the last four years. Teachers say Macri has fallen far short of the $315 million he said he would pump into the schools in 2008. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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