By Araceli Lacore
The general secretary of UTE-CETERA assured that the Government of the City of Buenos Aires generates “mistreatment of education” and explained that the strike called by teachers unions Thursday was in response to the provision that moves teacher training sessions to Saturdays.
“The government of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta will always prioritize a tile instead of a school because the tiles can be trampled on and education cannot,” said the trade unionist.
– What is the reason for today’s strike?
– The reason is the unilateral decision of the City government to recover the national holiday carried out before the attempted assassination of the Vice President of the Nation. That “lost day”, as expressed by the Head of Government, passing the day of reflection that takes place on a business day of the week, to Saturdays. The technical name of this conference is EMI (space for institutional improvement). By virtue of the holiday is that the head of the city government wants to punish teachers.
– What are the measures of force in addition to the strike?
– Carry out this strike together with SADOP and CAMIT with decentralized activities with the focus on the working day from Monday to Friday.
Strike and claim of teachers against the Buenos Aires government https://t.co/aO2keZmFtd
– Eduardo López (@eduardolopezute) September 23, 2022
– Do pedagogical continuity and presence in the classroom go hand in hand?
– It can be simultaneously. In many provinces it is done like this. Substitutes have already been assigned, rotating in schools so that teachers are trained during working hours and students have continuity. In all training, the benefit is for education. This has been the case in the Statute since 1958.
– In what other way could EMI be carried out without the boys and girls losing days of class?
– Appointing substitutes, taking the trainers to the schools. Taking the teacher out of school for a week and putting substitutes so that they can be trained. In the Statute there is a sabbatical year that the government should finance for training but of course it does not.
– Have you been able to talk with Minister Acuña?
– This year the minister decided not to dialogue with the unions. The city government has a very bellicosity stance towards teaching that is typical of right-wing governments. Teachers do not bow down, we do not sell ourselves nor can they buy us. The city government is always going to prioritize a tile over a school because tiles can be trampled on and education can’t. This is the government that armed the anti-union Gestapo and said that unions must be sacrificed like wounded horses. There is a whole compendium of mistreatment of education. We educate everyone, we believe that knowledge is a right. For us, the Malvinas are Argentine and we are not anguished by history. All of this goes against the policies of the right in general. of the macrismo
