Teachers of the City of Buenos Aires are planning to go on strike for two days on November 25 and 26 to press the Mauricio Macri administration for a wage increase and an improved 2010 budget.

One of the leaders of the UTE teachers' union, Alejandro Demichelis, confirmed the strike and called on the government to start talks with the sector. "We have three months to sit and negotiate serious proposals," he said during a press conference in Buenos Aires today, along with the head of the ATE public servants' union in the City, Rodolfo Arrenechea. (Photo)

UTE is seeking an increased budget to the sector for 2010, complaining that the City is favouring private education and neglecting public schools.

"The Macri administration of running the City as if it were a company" and thus "prioritizing areas related to the private sector and other areas that are not related to public investment," said Demichelis, who added that "2010 will be a very conflictive year," if the Macri administration fails to meet their demands.

The unionist meanwhile asked students' parents for understanding. "We know who strikes affect parents, but they must understand, and eventually they will, that this initiative aims to have a more calm 2010 in which public educations becomes a key (policy) for the City government."