The Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM) released an official statement this Thursday in which it expresses its direct rejection of the statements that the president in charge, Delcy Rodríguez, addressed to the nation on April 8 about an increase in salaries starting next May 1.
In the text, the union organization, which brings together thousands of educators in the country, assures that the Executive’s message does not provide solutions to the crisis that the education sector is experiencing.
“Far from offering answers, it deepens hopelessness,” the teachers say. The FVM details four main reasons for its position: First, it criticizes the absence of a living wage.
“It is unacceptable that an adjustment to the minimum wage that complies with the constitutional precept of sufficiency has not been announced,” the document states; Teachers, he adds, “face hunger and poverty every day without sufficient income to cover the basic basket.”
Secondly, it denounces the paralysis of collective contracting. The union center demands concrete answers about the pending benefits and rejects evasive answers that, in its opinion, violate already acquired rights.
Third, the FVM expresses distrust regarding the announcement of new commissions. “Historically, these instances have only served to delay and not to reach effective agreements. The problems of the teaching profession require political will and not more bureaucracy,” they add.
Finally, teachers demand fiscal transparency on funds collected through specific taxes to improve pensions.
“To date, retirees have not perceived any improvement,” the statement indicates.
The teachers demand the immediate setting of a minimum wage in accordance with the economic reality, the resumption of the discussion of the collective agreement, the transparent execution of resources for social security and compliance with the Amnesty Law for political prisoners, in addition to free elections.
The document closes with a forceful phrase: “The education of a nation cannot be sustained by the hunger of its educators.”
The FVM assures that it remains on permanent alert along with its bases in defense of education workers.
