The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) describes the reasons for the Association of Secondary Teachers (APSE) to summon a strike on June 27th as arbitrary and unjustified.
According to Ricardo Molina, president of APSE, the union will be in defense of seven axes of their struggle. However, the Directorate of Press and Public Relations of the MEP indicated that these reasons have no base because they don’t explain what the problem is or who it affects.
As for the workload reported by the association, the MEP indicated that it has no knowledge of what the complaint is, nor has it been given the opportunity to analyze and resolve the complaint, if any.
Regarding the anti-union practices denounced by APSE, the ministry said it is an inter-union problem, so they cannot comment on it.
They also said that the 1% increase in the working rate of the pension scheme is a matter for the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) and not MEP.
The MEP emphasized that it will take the necessary actions, in accordance with the regulations, against those officials who do not go to work tomorrow.
Molina predicts that 90% of schools will join the march that will leave from the headquarters of the MEP in Plaza Rojas to the building of the CCSS.
We are very accustomed to threats. The first thing the MEP would have to do is declaring the strike illegal, but we are not afraid. We already have the device ready to respond to that within 24 hours, we are not intimidated,”
stated Molina.