Labor dispute shuts down almost half the public schools in Baja California

TIJUANA (Border Report) — Parents staged a demonstration demanding the state of Baja California pay teachers back wages so schools can reopen and they can get back to work.

The ongoing salary dispute, now entering its fourth month, has forced the closure of 1,700 public schools, almost half in the entire state.

The teachers union said its members are owed 500 million pesos, or about $25 million.

“It’s been a very long time without classes, my children have a right to an education, it’s not the same if we try to teach them in comparison to their teachers,” said parent Rosa Portillo, whose son is a first-grader at Francisco Madero Elementary in Tijuana.

Another parent, Joselyn, said the last time her daughters got any formal instruction was back in late October and it was virtual not in the classroom.

“We got all excited when they announced a return to in-class learning last month, but then with the ongoing COVID-19 situation and pay dispute the schools didn’t open,” she said.

The teachers union has said they won’t do virtual teaching or engage in any instruction until they all get their back wages.

Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila says the teachers’ salaries have been paid and doesn’t understand why teachers are still not back in the classroom.

But the state’s Secretary of Education Gerardo Solís Benavides is contradicting the governor’s claims saying only 120 million pesos or about $6 million has been paid.

Solís Benavides stated they are maintaining a dialogue with teachers and their unions as they try to get them back into the classroom.

But someone inside the teachers union said there are no immediate plans to get teachers back to work.

“If they say, here is the money we owe, we’ll revise our strategy to lift the walkout and we’ll come back,” said a union rep who wanted to remain anonymous.