Iris Velázquez / Reform Agency
Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 19:29
Sonora, Mexico.- The University of Sonora (Unison) closed its doors before the outbreak of a strike due to the lack of agreements between the authorities and the two unions of academic workers and employees of the institution, at 5:00 p.m. hours of this April 28.
The sit-down decision was made in an assembly held yesterday where members of the Union of Academic Workers of the University of Sonora (Staus) cast 720 votes to start the strike and 643 against.
After that, they closed the main gate of the university and hung red and white flags.
“Due to the lack of sufficient management and offer by the University Administration (…) this decision is also a response to the mistreatment and contempt of the university authority and the lack of seriousness with which they have been dealing with the negotiation process “said the union.
“An example of this is that on April 28 of this year, with barely half an hour left to start the general assembly in which it would be defined whether or not the offers were accepted, the final proposal of the Administration was sent, this as part of a strategy that only contributes to polarization,” he added.
The union said that the demands are a salary increase according to the inflationary level, reparation for violations of the collective bargaining agreement and respect for the academic staff of the University Administration.
“The Staus expresses its willingness to resume negotiations as soon as possible to resolve the strike at the University of Sonora; it is in the hands of the University Administration that the stoppage does not continue,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Rectory of the University of Sonora, headed by María Rita Plancarte Martínez, regretted this measure on the part of the workers despite the great effort made by the institutional administration, with the permanent support of the State Government, as mentioned.
He assured that to stop the strike they made the best possible offer to avoid this outbreak.
“Well, even though the initial increase had been proposed of 4 percent (increase) directly to salary and 2 percent in benefits, by virtue of the fact that it is a contractual and salary review, 2.34 percent was added in adjustments to the tabulators and other benefits.
“The institutional administration expresses its greater willingness to dialogue with the union base as it has openly done with the desire to reach the necessary agreements to return to our activities as soon as possible,” he added.
The strike affects 30 thousand students.
Since 2018, this house of studies has not gone on strike. At that time, a 7 percent salary increase was required.
