Teachers protest against government [Archives:2005/887/Local News]

SANA'A – Oct. 14 – The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate (YTS) distributed a statement last Friday calling on teachers all over the republic to reject all the governmental procedures associating with the implementation of the new wages and salaries.

In the statement, the YTS claimed that it gave the government a chance till the end of current October. Otherwise, teachers will resort to escalating their protests and objections that are ensured by the law.

The statement reads, “We expect the government officials to take into account the sufferings and hardships endured by citizens, among them teachers and educators, because of tragic situations of living and the skyrocketing prices that exacerbated after the implementation of the prohibitive price dose.”

“The government should retreat from its oppressive moves in approving the wages and salary law No. 43 for the year 2005. It should stop its illegal procedures in canceling the accumulative entitlements acquired by employees, including teachers and workers in the educational field, who are covered by previous laws, particularly the Teacher and Educational Professions Law No. 37 issued in 1998. The Teachers and Educational Professions Law distinguished teachers and educators from others, acknowledging the hard role they play in educating children,” the statement said.

The teacher's call for non-cancellation of the Teacher and Educational Professions Law should be considered in the payment of work, and in an entitlement that should not be less than 50% of the salary. Secondly, workers in the educational field should be covered by the new law as well as labeled against good posts to help them cope with their current situations.

The third of the teachers' demands is a wage based on fair criteria. The government should put the law in effect according to certain phases and this should be accompanied by the implementation of annual allowances and promotions.

Concluding their statement, teachers invited their colleagues around the republic to escalate their protests against such oppressive procedures taken by the government. They appealed to the President of the Republic to give directives to the Cabinet to be fair in its decisions and the Parliament to defend their rights, being the legislative authority.
——
[archive-e:887-v:14-y:2005-d:2005-10-20-p:ln]