Deputy Claudio Domínguez arrived at the plenary session and before the debate began he asked: “Do you have everything covered about the MPN?” “I, A and B?” He needed to supervise his work. Be certain that in each of the three commissions -Labour, Constitutional Affairs and Finance- there were at least eight votes for the teacher presenteeism project to obtain an opinion and be approved in the afternoon session. He was superfluous: The law was passed by 25 positives and 3 negatives.
The ruling party had not commented on the issue, although it gave signs of its support. The first was to enable express processing of the initiative, which It became law in less than a week. The discussion lasted a day. Yesterday the deputies heard from representatives of the ATEN and Sadop teaching unions, who rejected the proposal, and from the organized parents association, which supported it.
There was no provincial official who specified with data the magnitude of absenteeism, which is what the law says it tries to reduce..
The only basis supported by figures that was provided was a statement made by the governor, Rolando Figueroa, last March, in the midst of salary negotiations with the union, when he indicated that the State pays “100 million dollars per year in teacher substitutes is enough for us to build 64 primary schools per year that we Neuquéns could build.”
The general secretary of ATEN, Marcelo Guagliardo, stated in the commission that the plus for presenteeism disqualifies teaching work. The underlying thing is that there is little commitment to the function. He indicated that 90% of those who teach classes are womenon whom the tasks of caring for sons and daughters mostly fall, which is why they must often be absent.
He mentioned that in the province there are 28,000 teachers, of all levels and modalities, and 9,000 service assistants. For this entire group of employees, the occupational health department has seven doctors and 2,000 unaudited certificates.
He stressed that this will start a conflict that “we did not have.” The strike will last until Thursday and next week there will be assemblies. The proximity to the winter holidays, which begin on July 8, can work in the government’s favor.
«What is going to be done with the Caviahue school?»insisted legislator Andrés Blanco (PTS-FIT), in reference to the fire that destroyed the town’s establishment. He recalled that Saturday the 29th marks a new anniversary of the explosion at the Aguada San Roque primary school in which the gas operator Nicolás Francés, his nephew Mariano Spinedi and the teacher Mónica Jara died. In August, officials from the previous government will be tried.
He said that with the bonus the teachers will be obliged to go to earn an extra peso.
Representative Gabriela Suppicich (FIT) stressed that only teachers are responsible for complying with the 180 days of classes. She called the law “misogynistic and anti-working class.”
“Is the minister coming?”, consulted legislator Darío Martínez (Unión por la Patria). The head of the ruling bloc, Ernesto Novoa (Community), responded: “It is not planned.” He questioned the speed of treatment and the absence of authorities.
«That they don’t ask us anything worries me»Guagliardo slipped when leaving the plenary session.
The representatives of the federal network of organized parents attracted greater attention from legislators. «Society voted for a change», Marina Smoljan emphasized. When asked if she had not rushed the debate she replied: “no more time”.
The modifications
To obtain the necessary consensus, Domínguez (MPN), author of the project, accepted in the plenary session of commissions to add all the modifications that were proposed to him. Thus, the bonus will be paid only for attendance, although it originally included accrediting training, and changes were made to the leave regime for substitute staff.
Deputy Alberto Bruno (We Make Neuquén) suggested that 10% of the position allocation was insufficient as an additional amount.
«If we are truly going to approve an incentive law, in this case for teachers, let it be that. An incentive. Because according to the numbers I have, the incentive that is being given today is four kilos of cuartirolo cheese, failing that, if they don’t eat cheese, eight liters of long-life milk and I think that in this we truly deserve to have a slightly broader look. and be a little more generous,” solicitous.
Novoa took up the gauntlet. “We could make a contribution and take it to the session, eventually, to raise the percentage from 10% to 15%”he said. He thus announced that the ruling party was committed to the approval of the project.
Domínguez’s defense focused on the fact that presenteeism is paid for in the oil, banking, and commerce sectors. “All the unions that have presenteeism also make their claim and have a strike, and go on strike”, held. He added that “As things stand now, the only thing that is growing is private education in the country, we have to take charge”. Deputy Marcelo Bermúdez (PRO) indicated that in provinces where it was implemented “absenteeism is much lower.”
The calculation that Domínguez made is that the bonus that will be collected will range from $120,000 to $280,000, depending on seniority, to be settled every three months. He will represent an annual expenditure of 33 billion pesos for the State. The data was not refuted by the ruling party, which found in the legislator an interpreter of his will.
