Paraguay: teachers call for decent working conditions
The Unión Nacional de Educadores Sindicato Nacional (UNE-SN), Education International’s affiliate in Paraguay, is mobilising its members around a major campaign to demand an increase in the education budgets for 2013 and 2014.
The president of Education International’s Regional Committee for Latin America, Hugo Yasky, has sent a letter to the Government of Paraguay urging it to accept the teachers’ demands.
The teachers’ demands include the settlement of outstanding seniority payments, the payment of maternity leave replacements, pay in line with the minimum wage for shift work, and other aspects foreseen in law but not put into practice by the state.
Already in August, UNE-SN and Comando de Unidad Sindical de los Trabajadores de la Educación (CUSTE) called for a mass demonstration in favour of free, compulsory, quality public education. The demonstration was held in the capital in front of the Congress building, and in other cities around the country.
EI Solidarity
EI affiliates are showing their solidarity with the Paraguayan teachers in their struggle for decent working conditions to ensure the three essential elements for quality education:
- Free and universal access to good quality teachers;
- Modern teaching resources and instruments
- A safe and comfortable supporting environment for teaching and learning.
“Education International believes that investing in public education and guaranteeing the best possible working conditions for teachers is the best political option for strengthening democracy and ensuring the development of our societies,” said EI General Secretary, Fred van Leeuwen.
