San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas - The state assembly of the democratic bloc of Section 7 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) agreed to initiate a work stoppage beginning May 1 [International Workers Day] to demand cancellation of the federal labor and education reforms, said its general secretary, Adelpho Alejandro Gómez.
In an interview, he said the decision was taken during the assembly held from midnight on Friday until 7 PM today in Tuxtla Gutiérrez [capital of Chiapas].
He explained that the agreement is to join in a work stoppage with dissident teachers in Oaxaca and Michoacán , who have the same demands.
He noted that yesterday members of the political leadership of the democratic bloc met with state government officials, but there was no agreement or progress, because the authorities "are pursuing a policy of deaf ears."
He said that after Friday's rally, in which about 8,000 teachers marched, thousands of teachers conducted their state congress in order to prepare a proposal to be presented to federal and state authorities "in case they should accept dialogue". Alejandro Gómez said that
"we teachers of Section 7 will continue fighting against the imposition of the labor and educational reforms, with which the government intends to privatize the sector."He said that, as with the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) to which it belongs, the Chiapas democratic bloc
"is raising demands in defense of public education and employment, as well as the effort to end the educational reform that attempts to ... deliver this sector to the private sector, so that the organization called Mexicans First can take charge of education in the country."
MV Note: Mexicans First is a non-profit organization, led by business people, who demand improvements in public education. These include ending control of the system by the National Union of Education Workers, raising the average number of years a student is in school from eight to twelve and increasing the hours of school to six [currently many schools have two half-day sessions] and the number of school days to 200.He added that another requirement of the group is the election of
"true representatives of education workers in the state, as we have waited patiently for over a year and endured the imposition of a spurious, minority committee."The teachers' union leader said that among the demands of the group it represents are also the release of comrades in Sonora and Hidalgo, cancellation of the arrest warrants against Guerrero teachers, and an end to political repression in Oaxaca.
He said that after the assembly, teachers participated in a forum to denounce the appalling conditions of the educational infrastructure in the state, ... Spanish original