After eviction of occupation, union of UTU carries out a day of "agitation and propaganda"

The union’s initial idea was to reoccupy the ITS headquarters this Tuesday, but an assembly decided not to do so because, as they understand it, the police response to Monday’s occupation was “very violent, aggressive and excessive,” according to Mallo.

“A battalion of the Republican (Guard) entered, with helmets and shields. We were inside in an assembly,” said Mallo, who added that “he is not here to risk” another occupation in the current situation, and feared that the institute would be there today ” all surrounded” by police. The decision not to occupy was given with a split vote.

At 9:56 a.m. this Tuesday, the president of the Central Board of Directors (Codicen) of the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP), Robert Silva, reported on Twitter that “the election of hours is taking place normally in the two planned locations by UTU”.

No incidents or arrests

Monday’s occupation began in the morning, within the framework of an election of hours in which Afutu did not agree with the chosen date. The union wants the 2022 course schedule to be ready soon to choose the hours, which according to Mallo will be ready in two weeks. According to the president of the union, this request was rejected by the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP).

The police intervened and asked to vacate the premises around noon, to which Afutu agreed and left without disturbance. In the afternoon, however, they returned to occupy the educational center. On the second occasion, videos can be seen on social networks of a greater response, with the Republican Guard guarding the door and entering with at least two squads to request the vacation of the premises.

From the Ministry of the Interior they confirmed to the Observer that the director of UTU, Juan Pereyra, denounced the situation to this ministry and to the Ministry of Labor, and the police sought to “guarantee the right to enter to choose the hours for those who wanted to do so”, by preventing the ITS from dealing with it. They added that there is a “permanent dialogue” with all the parties, and that the MI will prioritize that the election of hours can continue, without this leading to protests not being able to be held. They stressed that there were no incidents and no people have been detained.

Ghost groups and lost hours

Mallo explained that it was a “complicated” election because ANEP changed the time of the election twice. From Afutu they asked that this Monday’s elections not be counted, because in addition to these complications, many colleagues could not attend to vote or could not access the ITS, but this request was also denied by the education authorities. “It’s like talking to the wall,” Mallo said.

According to the trade unionist, this year hours were removed for 150 courses in Canelones and Montevideo, 40 in the ITS. From ANEP they have already stated that they will wait for students to sign up to open some of these courses, in order to avoid classes with few students or “ghost” classes, which do not have any students, a phenomenon mentioned by the Codicen counselor Juan Gabito Zoboli to The Observer on November 29. According to Gabito, at that time there were 10 ghost groups and 283 classes with fewer than 10 students.

However, Mallo said that Juan Pereyra, general director of UTU, admitted that there were 17 ghost courses, which in his opinion does not explain the number of classes that have not yet been confirmed.

On the other hand, the unionist indicated that there have been changes in the last few hours in the tasks of some teachers. Mallo emphasized “labor literacy teachers,” who teach students labor rights. According to the president of the union, some time ago these teachers began to have a role of “taking care of the students”, and 48 hours ago they took away hours to choose. “They are on the pedal to change everything,” he criticized.

political discussion

The vacating of the ITS generated responses from both the coalition and the opposition, between agreement with the police action and questioning the use of the police to evict the center.

The deputy of the Colorado Party Felipe Schipani shared a video on Twitter in which the police are seen forming a line to let teachers enter the institute who wanted to choose their hours. In front of them was a group of teachers with Afutu flags, who rebuked the other educators and told them things like “cannibals”, “low class” and “do not miss the hours”. “These attitudes are not good for trade unionism and much less for education,” criticized the legislator.

The current director of the Educational Evaluation Institute and former Primary School counselor, Pablo Caggiani, shared a recording of the moment in which Afutu left the ITS, after the police forces entered. A woman shouted “here we are fighting for the children of the workers”, and the trade unionists began to leave singing songs. In reference to unemployment, Caggiani said that “this does not seem to be the best way to improve education.”