Union President Carlos Díaz said that the measure is an addition to last week’s strike, held in response to the delays in satisfying demands.

Some of the demands made by the teachers are related to the reparations of the “historical debt”, the payment of overdue retirement bonuses, the cessation of labor burden, the creation of better working conditions, and a solution to the problem of violence on school grounds.

The “historical debt” is the damage suffered by thousands of teachers in the public sector, when education passed from the central government to the municipalities during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, and teachers’ salaries were not adjusted as established by law, having an impact on the amount of the pensions received by those who accepted retirement during the following years.

Although the governments that followed recognize this situation, teachers have not been compensated up to this point.

According to Minister of Education Marco Antonio Ávila, a program will be implemented in 160 communes nationwide to promote skills to deal with school violence.

However, representatives pointed out that focusing this policy on a small number of places does not solve the problem, since concrete responses from the State are needed in all schools.

A mass protest is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in front of the National Congress in the city of Valparaíso.

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