Uruguay’s main teachers’ union will ignore the government’s controversial “essentiality of services” ruling and go ahead with a new 48-hour walkout, beginning today, the National Federation of Secondary School Teachers (Fenapes) confirmed to the Herald yesterday, denouncing the decree as “illegal.”

“We are calling a general strike for 48 hours, educational workers will participate starting tomorrow (Wednesday), then from Thursday we will be participating in the national strike along with the Central workers’ union (PIT-CNT),” Fenapes General Secretary José Olivera said, echoing the PIT-CNT executive secretariat’s earlier call yesterday for a partial general strike on Thursday from 9am to 1pm, in protest.

On Monday, the government of President Tabaré Vázquez declared education was an “essential right,” effectively declaring strike action illegal and upping the ante in the wage dispute.

Teachers’ unions have called multiple partial strikes over the last fortnight. On Tuesday, the main education unions called a three-day strike, provoking the government into issuing the constitutional decree which declared education was an “essential service” for 30 days, prohibiting the teachers from continuing their industrial action.

The teachers are calling for salary hikes and for a greater portion of the budget to be dedicated to education. The five-year budget plan is currently being discussed in Congress and teachers are demanding that six percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) be channelled into education.

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Buenos Aires Herald