Chile’s public schoolteachers’ strike enters its third week with no immediate end in sight. More than 60 teachers are on hunger strike and the Ministry of Education announced 300 schools are likely to end the school year early.

The National Teachers Association (ANP) voted last week to continue the strike, rejecting a government proposal including a US$20 end-of-conflict bonus for all teachers. The proposal also included a $100 bonus for retired teachers that ANP President Jaime Gajardo said had already passed into law.

Friday November 6, 2009 ANP votes to continue strike.
Photo Courtesy Colegio de Profesores de Chile

“We are far from an agreement because they (the government) insist there is no historic debt,” said Gajardo. “There is nothing new in this offer.”

An ANP national assembly will vote this Wednesday on a counterproposal. Instead of immediate payment as the teachers first demanded, this proposal asks the government to recognize the “historic debt” and pledge to pay it off within two years. Also included is a US$1,500 end of conflict bonus – but only for teachers affected by the “historic debt.” Lastly, and a direct contradiction of the government position, the ANP seeks no wage deductions for striking teachers.

Though the ANP plans a massive demonstration in Valparaiso for today, Tuesday, Education Minister Monica Jiménez announced the SIMCEs (8th grade proficiency tests) will proceed as scheduled. More than 250,000 students are scheduled to take the test today and tomorrow.

At the core of the disagreement is the “historic debt” teachers say they are owed and that the government says does not exist. Teachers say they are owed money because of the 1981 changeover of Chile’s public education system ordered by the military regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Public school administration was shifted from the centralized education ministry to the nation’s cities. Teachers say paychecks went missing, creating a “historic debt.”

Teachers joined the National Association of Public Workers (ANEF) demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Finance on Monday. ANEF announced the demonstration last week as part of a three-day strike ending this Wednesday to pressure the government for an 8 percent pay increase. The ANEF strike is joined by 15 other organizations including the National Public Healthcare Workers.

SOURCES: LA NACÍON, LA TERCÉRA, EL MERCURIO, COOPERATIVA.CL
By Pamela Morales ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )