Buenos Aires Teachers Strike Against Face-to-Face Teaching During COVID Second Wave

Lisbeth Latham

Teachers in public schools across Buenos Aires have been on strike since April 19 following a decision by the city government to oppose a ban on face-to-face learning as part of a national lock-down. Education unions argue that the city’s decision, made in the midst of a new COVID outbreak and despite a federal decree to close schools and transition to remote learning, unnecessarily increases the risk of contracting and spreading the disease.

Since the start of the pandemic, Argentina has been hit hard by the pandemic with almost 3 million people infected and more than 60 thousand deaths. From the outset, there has been ongoing tension between Buenos Aires city government and the federal government over how to respond to the pandemic crisis - with the pro-business Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and his allies opposing policies aimed at limiting the spread of infection but which they, like other neoliberals globally, argued undermined the economy.

In the wake of the new wave of infections, President Fernandez’s government issued a Decree of Necessity and Urgency which included a national lockdown including the closure of schools until the end of April - on April 30 it was extended until May 21. On announcing the extension of the lockdowns and curfews across the country Fernandez said “The measures against the pandemic are strictly to save lives. The rules we put in place must be complied with equally by all". The lockdown is aimed at limiting new infections which were running at record highs particularly amongst those under 18-years of age. The Buenos Aires municipal government responded with a court case to block the decree in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area - however, the court has not yet made a final decision, however, the city government has attempted to keep public schools in the city open. The opposition Juntos por el Cambio coalition within the federal parliament is also expected to launch their own court challenge against the lockdowns.

In response education unions in middle and higher education called strikes beginning April 19, with strikes having been renewed as the government has failed to respond. The strikes which have seen 90% of students and teachers not attend for face-to-face classes have been justified by the unions as necessary public health measures to protect not just students and teachers but of the lives of all those in the metropolitan area. With the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (Confederation of Education Workers of the Argentine Republic - Ctera) arguing the strikes are a defence of health and life and are necessary as:

• the Buenos Aires health system is close to collapsing because new strains impact children the most.
• the Buenos Aires government didn't condition schools to prevent the spread of the virus.
• children, IF THEY USE public transportation to go to school this increases the risk of contagion.
• Larreta isn't vaccinating teachers and non-teachers to prevent the disease.
• in Uruguay, Britain, Chile, Israel, Italy closed schools to reduce cases and it worked.
• we want to stop coronavirus from taking more lives.

The strain on Argentina’s health care system is reflected by there being more than 5,300 people currently receiving intensive care for coronavirus complications, COVID patients occupying 68.4 per cent of beds available nationally, and 76.6 per cent in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.

In a statement released on May Day, the Ctera said “with masses of teachers, families and students, we have been fighting against the lies and misleading advertisements with which Larreta intends to continue to use education in a political campaign at the expense of the health and lives of the citizens of the City.

In addition to calling for the municipal government to abide by the closure of schools, the union is also calling for a continuation of the vaccination program, particularly in schools, and for urgent steps to be taken to ensure that all students have access to computers and the internet to allow virtual teaching during the lockdown.

The statement ended “Despite the pressure and the discounts on our salary, we will carry on convinced that our fight saves lives.”

Ctera is part of Union de trabajadores de la educación (Union of Education Workers), one of the Argentinian affiliates of Education International. Ctera has established a Solidarity Fund in Defence of Health and Life to support striking teachers.

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