Start of new school 'at risk' says teachers union

The secretary general of the Unified Union for Education Workers of Buenos Aires (SUTEBA), Roberto Baradel said today that the start of the school year could be at risk, due to continued discontent surrounding the government's wage rise offer for teachers.

The union member considered the government’s decision to close collective bargaining for teachers a bad move and re-stated his claim for a meeting in order to “move forward with an agreement.”

“We’ve rejected the agreement because we consider it to be insufficient. Not only because of the final offer, but mainly because of the fact that it’s being fractioned,” Baradel said today during an interview with Mitre radio.

Furthermore, the president of the Federation for Buenos Aires province Educators (FEB), Mirta Petrocini, backed up Baradel’s statements by stating “it looks like it’s going to be quite difficult for classes to start on time in Buenos Aires province.”

“In the coming days we are going to call our Extraordinary Congreso, to bring together all of the teachers representatives in the province in order to analyse further action regarding the agreement with the government and the wage negotiations,” Petrocini added.