Mauricio Macri Compares Argentina Teachers’ Strike To Hiroshima On Facebook; Ignores Nationwide Action, Asks Reforms
President Mauricio Macri compared the ongoing nationwide teachers' strike to the Hiroshima bombing and called on protesters to come back to work. Macri has ignored reforms asked by teachers as they protest in the streets for a second 48-hour strike. The Argentinian president posted on his Facebook account a photo of what seems to be a classroom in ruins after the bombing in Hiroshima. He added a caption saying that for a nation to rise, schools must not stop.
Teachers in Buenos Aires as well as in other major cities and towns in Argentina protested for the second time on Tuesday after the government has refused to listen to their demands. President Mauricio Macri has tried to boost economic growth by containing wages, The Wall Street Journal reported. But teachers across the nation have had enough.
President Mauricio Macri ordered teachers to go back to work by highlighting the teachers' strike using a photograph of students in Hiroshima after the U.S. bombed the city during World War II. Macri criticized protesters for abandoning their duties as educators, Telesur TV reported. The Argentine leader was quick to compare teacher's actions to the photo but did not address the reasons why they were protesting.
Teachers ask for a 35 percent wage increase to cope with high inflation rate in the country which has reached to a high of 40 percent in 2016. Negotiations for wage increases have long since come under the scope of provincial governments under President Mauricio Macri's rule; but teachers demand a national salary negotiation which has further reduced their chance of getting reforms.
Mauricio Macri comparison of teachers' strikes to Hiroshima has also made it clear that the chances of granting reforms to educators working conditions are dim. Meanwhile, leader of the teacher's union Roberto Baradel threatened of heightened labor actions if Macri's government continues to ignore their pleas.
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