Conalep union leader denounces harassment

Jared Laurels

Newspaper La Jornada
Monday December 5, 2022, p. 16

The National Federation of Higher Secondary Education Unions denounced the dismissal arbitrary and unjustified of the professor and leader of one of its member organizations, Blas Escobedo Hernández, on behalf of the leadership of Conalep in Durango.

In an interview, the teacher blamed the state authorities for their separation and said that he suffers political harassment for the defense of labor rights.

Escobedo is general secretary of the National Federation of Academic Unions – made up of 25 Conalep unions – and assured that the state director, Cuauhtémoc Armas Enríquez, told him that he did not want him within the school system: There’s no reason to run from you, I just don’t want to have a relationship with you anymore.

The professor denounced that he was not paid for the last fortnight that he worked and he was discharged from ISSSTE, in addition to the fact that the manager warned him that he would no longer be entitled to the rest of his benefits such as the payment of the Christmas bonus.

He reiterated that his dismissal is due to a political decisionsince the union organization has achieved various benefits for teachers, but the PRI government Esteban Villegas is looking for where to save at the expense of benefits, since the previous administration left the government bankrupt.

The leader ruled out that his dismissal is due to the mobilizations that members of unions from upper secondary education institutions have carried out since October to demand basicization and a greater budget for the sector, within the framework of discussion and approval of the 2023 Expenditure Budget.

He explained that the following week he will hold a meeting with authorities from the Treasury and Interior secretariats as part of the negotiation tables and give continuity to the agreements embodied in a minute.

The federation of unions demanded from the state government the reinstatement of the teacher, the recognition of his employment relationship and respect for his trade union rights.