ADP calls for "a 24 hours alert strike"

Sd. The Dominican Teachers Association (ADP) decided yesterday to stiffen their fight for a salary increase and called for a 24 hour "alert strike" for teachers in all the schools and high schools of the country for today, Tuesday.

The ADP president, Eduardo Hidalgo, said that the strike is being held as an answer to the "media campaign" from the Ministry of Education through paid announcements in the different media.

On Monday there was a publication in all of the national newspapers, paid for by the Ministry of Education, in which they said that the demand for a 100% salary increase "would absorb around 50% of the increase to 4% of GDP for the budget of Education and would mean "sacrificing the construction of the 10,000 schoolrooms."

The education authorities also indicate that there will be gradual increases in salary for the teachers. They assured the teachers that "starting in February there will not be a single teacher who earns less than RD$15,000 for four hours of work."

Hidalgo said that he felt that "with the millions" invested by Minister Josefina Pimentel in "manipulating the information" should be invested in the SEMMA Medical Center."

In spite of the strike announcement, he said that the ADP is willing to enter a dialogue.

He reiterated, moreover, the convocation of the national plenary of leaders for today at 10:00 in the morning, and announced a mass meeting for next Sunday, 10 March, in Independence Park.

In the meantime, the group Action for Education (EDUCA) said that the worry by the Ministry of Education that half of the 4% of GDP assigned to the educational sector not be used for teacher's salaries is correct.