Last Tuesday, teachers led a 48 hours national strike in demand of a minimum wage of 3,100 pesos.
After a very public dispute and several strikes, teachers’ unions in the Buenos Aires province reached an agreement with the provincial government and solved a weeks-long dispute sparked by what they considered was a very low basic salary offer.
The basic salary will see a $ 500 pesos increase, elevating it from $2.400 to $2.900. An extra $242 pesos will be added to the basic wages of the initial posts, increasing the pay to $ 1.600.
The General Director of Culture and Education, Silvina Gvirtz, said the agreement was the result of the administration’s «consistent work» to come up with a better offer.
“The unions have initially accepted our offer. We have worked hard to reach this deal,” the official stressed.
Last Tuesday, teachers led a 48-hour national strike in demand of a minimum wage of 3,100 pesos, after the provincial government refused to pay the amount and made a counter offer of $2,860 pesos instead. The strike is believed to have affected over four million students.
The head of the Federation of Buenos Aires Province Educators, Mirta Petrocini, said the union will present the unionists with the new offer..
“The government has made a better offer and we are OK with it. Though we initially asked for $3.100 pesos, the proposal is pretty close to what was requested. We are now taking it to the union’s meeting.”
Roberto Baradel from SUTEBA said a final answer will be announced by Thursday “after teachers have evaluated it,” he remarked.
The province’s Labor Minister, Oscar Cuartango, lamented a strike was held to force the government to the negotiation table.
“It is a tough and long negotiation, but we could have gone through it without the strikes. There was no need for extreme measures,” he complained.
buenosairesherald.com