The formal leadership of section 34 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), whose leaders are part of the Democratic Teachers’ Movement of Zacatecas – related to the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) – took over the headquarters of the Secretariat of Education and the Secretariat of Finance of the local government on Wednesday, to demand that the debts that have been dragging on since 2024 be covered, after the non-payment of various benefits and bonuses to that union.
Filiberto Frausto Orozco, leader of section 34 of the SNTE in Zacatecas, who last December achieved that nomination, after defeating in a democratic election five opponents nominated by the charrismo trade union of Elba Esther Gordillo, reported in an interview the reasons for the teachers’ protest today.
Interviewed outside the building of the Finance Secretariat, in Ciudad Gobierno, he stated that the decision to carry out the mobilization was made at an assembly held on Tuesday, taking as its main basis the dissatisfaction with the non-payment of scholarships for teachers’ children, which were not covered in 2024.
Frausto Orozco recalled that on May 8, 2024, the local Education Secretariat issued a call for scholarships, intended for children of education workers, “which to date, have not been paid.”
“There is no explanation from the government as to why this benefit has not been delivered, and since we assumed the representation of the teaching profession, on December 17, we have been making the necessary arrangements, always prioritizing dialogue, however, there has not been a solution for the colleagues.”
The new head of the Education Secretariat, Gabriela Pinedo Morales, indicated the leader of section 34 of the SNTE, “has argued that, since the fiscal year (2024) has already concluded, there is no way to recover that resource, and that the education workers are practically told that they would be left without that right, and that that resource can no longer be exercised.”
Faced with the position of the state government, Frausto Orozco pointed out, the education workers have decided not to give in to the government’s position, but to demand a labor right earned:
“It is a right won many years ago, which was paid ordinarily. The colleagues argue that this omission cannot be allowed, because allowing a right not to be fulfilled is giving the pattern for other more won rights not to be fulfilled.”
The leader explained that specifically this scholarship is owed to 2,916 education workers, which consists of 1,200 pesos for each student. This means a total of 3.5 million pesos owed since 2024 by the state government, “an expenditure that the government could cover without a problem if it had the will.”
“If the government does not attend to this legitimate demand, we will have a new assembly, to see what new actions we take.”
The members of Section 24 and the MDMZ took over the headquarters of Seduzac and Sefin this day, in the state capital, as well as regional offices in a dozen municipalities and also the collection headquarters.
For now, the leader concluded, “we regret that there is enormous indifference on the part of the authorities, because at the moment there is no response to a solution on the part of the state government, only a lukewarm response from the head of Seduzac.”
Source: jornada
