Christine's update on the strike

This is week 3 of the teachers strike and I thought I would write a short explanation about the strike as it was explained to me.

The strike is the result of a bonus that teachers throughout the country were promised last year during a renegotiation of their contracts. The government claims that it sent the bonus money out to the municipalities to be distributed to the teachers, but apparently the municipalities spent the money on other things without passing it along to the intended recipients. Teachers in Valparaiso began striking roughly a month ago to demand the bonuses and since then the strike has spread to many other schools throughout every part of the country. The government has been in negotiations with the teachers and has offered to pay them a part of the bonus now, with the rest to follow in several instalments, but so far the teachers have deemed this unacceptable. Negotiations are continuing and officials believe that the situation is close to a resolution. However there’s no real way of knowing when the strike will end.

Unfortunately for students, teachers, and volunteers alike, strikes are an inescapable part of educational life in Chile . Almost every volunteer is forced to deal with them at some point and we are encouraged to remain neutral in a strike, in large part because as foreign guests in the country we generally lack the cultural and historical background necessary to fully comprehend the issues at stake.

It is possible that I will work Saturdays to make up lost time or that the 2 week holiday in July will be make up time as well. However, I have been keeping busy during the time studying spanish, learning more salsa combinations, researching, and site seeing around town.

I'll keep you all posted!

CW