Like the teachers, the country’s firefighters find themselves up against the wall at the refusal of the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF), in collusion with the executive and the Legislative Assembly, to increase their salaries and guarantee a retirement that is not throw them into destitution.
The president of the United Firefighters Union of Puerto Rico, José Tirado, revealed that only 60 of 300 firefighters reported to the first shift this Saturday.
“The desperation of these public servants on the front line of defense is such that they remain firm in their claims,” he said.
The day before, more than six thousand teachers paralyzed work in the country’s public schools to march to La Fortaleza, seat of the executive, while others continued to protest in front of their schools throughout the country.
This action will be emulated by Puerto Rican firefighters next Wednesday due to Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi’s lack of commitment to address their claims, Tirado said.
Both sectors of public employees brought their claims before the Legislative Assembly and the government without evidence of a willingness to address the matter, while progress is being made on a debt adjustment plan that will entail the payment of billions of dollars to vulture funds such as part of the public debt.
Tirado indicated that on Wednesday, firefighters from all over the country will hold a large demonstration starting in the morning in front of the Capitol and then march to La Fortaleza, where they hope that Governor Pierluisi will attend them personally.
“Our colleagues are exhausted from so many conversations without results,” complained the president of the union, after the Secretary of the Interior, Noelia García Bardales, received them on Friday without assuming any commitment to their claims.
The trade unionist reiterated that we want to meet with Governor Pierluisi and that he be the one to offer the explanations and solutions of minimum justice for the firefighters of Puerto Rico.
The claims of the members of the Fire Department respond to the fact that federal judge Laura Taylor Swain approved the debt adjustment plan that readjusts what Puerto Rico will pay its creditors from about 73 billion dollars to about 33 billion dollars.
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