The Confederation of Education Workers (CTERA) announced this Thursday a 24-hour national teaching strike, so classes will not begin on Monday, February 26, as planned.
The union was waiting to set a minimum wage with the national government, with an official call at the Ministry of Labor next Tuesday.
The decision comes after the entity's extraordinary congress.
In a press conference called urgently, the general secretary Sonia Alesso declared that the congress voted "unanimously" to have a strike.
In addition, there will be mobilizations in all the provinces and on Tuesday the 27th they will appear at the hearing that the national government called on Wednesday.
They demand transfers from the Teacher Incentive Fund, stopped by Javier Milei, and national educational programs.
The force measure will not affect the Province of Buenos Aires, where the start of classes is scheduled for March 1.
The strike will be carried out despite the fact that the Government called the unions next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. “to begin dialogues in order to agree on the national framework agreement for the minimum teacher salary,” indicated the Ministry of Education.
CTERA ratified the strike arguing that the suspension of the Teaching Incentive Fund (FONID) and the Salary Inequalities Compensation Fund compromises 10% of the salaries of more than 1,650,000 workers.
“We must add to that the high rates, inflation and the increase in rents,” remarked the union's Press Director, Alejo Demichelis.
The Ctera Congress this Thursday, in which they evaluated force measures before the start of classes.
Photo Twitter Ctera
Teacher strike confirmed
Already at the beginning of the week, Alesso had declared that he saw the start of classes as “complicated”, after President Javier Milei broke away from the national partnership and suspended the FONID.
Despite this, the Government convened the unions to negotiate a minimum teacher salary.
Milei had said that “we don't like setting prices” and stressed that “education depends on the provinces, they have to decide.”
However, the educational portfolio told Clarín that “the provinces make equality, the Nation sets the floor.”
In any case, CTERA will appear next Tuesday to "listen to the proposals", although it stressed that it would be "a terrible setback" if the joint ventures no longer function.
Last Tuesday, four minority teaching unions, but that make up the CGT - the Argentine Union of Private Teachers (Sadop), the Argentine Teachers' Union (UDA), the Association of Technical Teaching Teachers (AMET) and the Confederation of Argentine Educators (CEA) )-, had called for a strike that was suspended this Thursday after the call from the national government.
The unions warned that they hope "it is not a delaying maneuver" and that they remain in a "state of alert."
We have to wait for its resolution after the confirmation of the CTERA strike.
For its part, the Casa Rosada confirmed that it is evaluating the possibility of declaring education as an essential service, which would require guaranteeing 75% of active functions and thus deactivate massive union protests.
Roberto Baradel, general secretary of the United Union of Education Workers of Buenos Aires (SUTEBA), responded that this measure is “absolutely unconstitutional.”
When the clases starts
As established in the academic calendar, the districts that must begin classes this Monday are eight: City of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Mendoza, San Luis and Santa Fe.
On Tuesday, for its part, La Rioja will do it, and on Thursday, Santa Cruz.
Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Tierra del Fuego and Tucumán are expected to resume the school year on Friday, March 1.
Meanwhile, on Monday the 4th classes will begin in Chaco, Chubut, Misiones, Neuquén, San Juan and Santiago del Estero, while Río Negro is scheduled to do so a week later.
Catamarca, Jujuy and Salta have already officially postponed the start of the school year, due to the uncertainty due to the non-transfer of money from the Teacher Incentive Fund to the provinces.