The Misiones province government offered a 40 percent hike for police officer’s basic salary with the aim of solving ongoing conflict, which started on Wednesday.
The offer was announced by Misiones Government Minister Jorge Franco and Vice-governor Hugo Passalacqua in a press conference. “A basic 2000 pesos salary is simply unfeasible, because it means a police officer would earn 8000 pesos per month and our provincial budget would not allow us to do so,” Franco explained.
Vice-governor Passalacqua deined that Misiones police chief Benjamín Roa quit.
The thousand police officers that take over the Comando Radioeléctrico building were analyzing the government’s proposal.
Earlier today, police officers from Posadas, Eldorado, Puerto Rico, Jardín América, Iguazú, Apóstoles, Santa Ana, Candelaria, Garupá and San Pedro municipalities adhered to the strike.
Misiones police chief Benjamín Roa acknowledged that “the claim is genuine” but begged for sanity.
A meeting was held between the officers taking over the police headquarters and its authorities in order to discuss wage demands. The protest began on Wednesday, when
over 700 police officers took over the Comando Radioeléctrico headquarters and released a communiqué stating their claims; a 2000 pesos minimum wage, the lifting of sanctions and improved equipment.
The statement, addressed to Governor Maurice Closs and to the people of the province, said that they “do not mean to destabilize the Government nor cause unrest, but claim for their constitutional right to strike and to demand better salaries.”
Source: Buenos Aires Herald