As waves of strikes continue across Colombia, teachers’ union Fecode threatens that it too may go on strike in September.
The union announced in a press release on Thursday that the union of educators had firmly agreed to strike action in September – union members will now wait and see if the union board believes that there is a good time and enough cause to strike.
Teachers and educators from just one group of labor sectors that are unhappy with the governments attitude towards agreements that were reached after previous strikes.
MORE: Teachers also say Colombia’s government broke promises
Earlier in August, Fecode Secretary General Rafael Ceullo Ramirez spoke with Colombia Reports, describing at length the governments broken promises and perceived unwillingness to help those working for the educating sector. He said that, among other poor management of the education sector, “education employees are the only public servants who twice have been denied yearly bonuses guaranteed by the Colombian constitution.”
Fecode has been a vocal supporter of Colombia’s recent labor and agricultural strikes, publicly allying themselves with other labor groups on social networking sites such as twitter:
La razón principal de movilización social: Defender al agro y a todos los agricultores nacionales. Defender la salud y la educación pública
— fecode (@fecode) August 21, 2013
Fecode will now begin to organise national mobilisation by sending envoys to regional offices to round-up support and ensure that a national walk out is as effective as possible. For example in La Guajira, Fabio Herrera the President of Asodegua (Association of Educators in La Guajira), added that “as there appears to be no solution to the conflict through dialogue, as of August 23, the teachers of La Guajira will be supporting the national strike of Colombian educators.”
Sources
- Magisterio nacional apoya Paro de FECODE (FECODE site)
- Fecode amenaza con paro de maestros en septiembre (El Espectador)
- Fecode confirma que irá a paro en el mes de septiembre (Radio Santa Fe)
