The meeting between representatives of the Buenos Aires Teachers Unity Front (FUDB) and the Province, which marked the reopening of the salary parity, ended after almost two hours, without an offer of improvement for the moment, a series of requirements by the unions and the commitment to get back together this week.
This was made known at the end of the meeting by the General Secretary of SUTEBA, Roberto Baradel, who said that during the meeting the unions raised the need for “a salary readjustment” that allows “to be above inflation.” “Unfortunately the inflationary escalation does not stop and then there has to be a recomposition of the teacher’s salary so as not to lose purchasing power,” said the union leader.
The FUDB also required “advance installments and increase the agreement”, which contemplates an improvement of 40% to be paid thirteen times: March (20%, which has already taken effect), May (6%) and July (14%).
In this sense, the General Secretary of UDOCBA, Alejandro Salcedo, assured that “the government was inclined to establish the guidelines for the improvement of wages, let’s say, attending or in line with the inflationary issue.”
The request of the unions was that there be a definition this week “because if so it impacts the next salaries”, that is, those of May that are collected in June.
“We also raised other issues that have to do with other issues that we had already discussed in the last joint, such as a protection and reparation agreement, with parental leave, that other statutory regimes that already have it, and the application of the opinion of the Ministry of Economy to moderate a sector that is around approximately 10% of teachers who have Income Tax withholdings,” Salcedo said.
During the meeting there was no formal offer from the Buenos Aires authorities, “they only listened,” said one of the attendees, although he pointed out that “they promised to analyze the statements that I reiterate were in the sense of being above inflation in the salary brackets that were agreed to be in March, May and July is above inflation and that the update, review and monitoring clause is permanently in place”.
“This week we will meet again to resolve them,” added Baradel before leaving.
