Incidents as Police evicts Santa Cruz teachers camping in front of the Labour Ministry

Santa Cruz teachers camping in front of the Labour Ministry were evicted by the Federal Police Infantry. The teachers had set their tents at the entrance of the ministry to claim a 50% increase in their wages.

Sources told BuenosAiresHerald.com that there were at least 9 injured and three people were detained. Protesters assured that they will not leave until the Police frees those detained.

The provincial government had offered them a 25% increase but the teachers had rejected it, and they went to Buenos Aires City to claim for the intervention of the Labour Ministry.

Nevertheless, the ministry announced earlier that it was not going to intervene in the conflict because “it must be solved in the province,” after ministry officials met with teacher union leaders who travelled to Buenos Aires.

“Ministry officials received Santa Cruz teachers, as it s done is in these cases, but the conflict has a provincial jurisdiction and thus the national labour ministry isn’t competent for the solution of the conflict,” the source said.

Santa Cruz province Cabinet Chief Pablo González said that “the conflict is solved with the 25 percent increase in wages the teachers will received” by means of a decree, due to the union’s refusal to abide by the mandatory conciliation and the lifting of the strike that began in April 15th.

Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz teachers had set camp in front of the Labour Minister offices. “We were received by one of (Minister Carlos) Tomada’s advisors, who said she wasn’t informed about our strikes characteristics; we described them and obviously requested the intervention of the Labour Ministry, because the State must guarantee the solving of conflicts,” Ezequiel Alós Finance Secretary of the Santa Cruz Teachers Association (Adosac) said.

Santa Cruz teacher unions began the school year with strikes in demand of 50 percent wage increase, rejected the mandatory conciliated dictated on May 2 and set roadblocks on routes leading to oilfields.