Teacher unions to continue collective bargaining talks next week

The five main trade unions that represent school teachers across the country met again today with the Government, in the second round of collective bargaining talks and did not reach an agreement, and thus decided to keep on negotiating next week. Education authorities offered a minimum wage of 2700 pesos, which did not satisfy unionists, who aim to obtain a 3000 pesos salary.

The negotiations come at a crucial time for educators, as the new school term begins on February 28.

Unions have asked for a 28 percent hike in salaries, which would take the teachers’ minimum wage from $2,340 to $3000 pesos.

Representatives from the Confederation of Argentine Education Workers (CTERA), the Argentine Union of Private Teachers (SADOP), Technical Education Teachers’ Association (AMET), Argentine Teachers’ Union (UDA) and the Confederation of Argentine Teachers (CEA) attended the meeting.

Teachers in Santa Cruz have already considered the possibility of going on strike on Monday, if it happens that their wage demands are not met. This could indeed produce a knock-on effect with other unions in further provinces. The results of today's meeting therefore are crucial to seeing how the new school year starts for students nationwide.