Teachers and Government Close to Deal in BA Province: After three weeks of disruption to classes which have delayed the start of the academic year, a deal is in sight between teachers and Buenos Aires’ provincial government. The deal would raise a monthly starting salary from $3600 to $5000, and highlights that the days that have been lost due to the strike would not be discounted from salaries. Secretary general of the Suteba teacher’s union, Roberto Baradel, said that many of their demands had been taken into account in this new offer, and that he and his colleague, Mirta Petrocini, were pleasantly surprised by the offer. Petrocini said: “The government has presented an improved offer and we are going to take it into consideration. This afternoon the assemblies will analyse it, and between today and tomorrow we will make our decision public.” The deal could pave the way for teachers and students returning to the classroom as early as Monday. The academic year did not begin on 5th March as planned, and the situation has escalated during the past few days, culminating in a huge march on the Education Ministry on Wednesday, as unions continued to demand a 35% wage increase to be paid in full immediately.
Rosario’s Mayor Condemns Recent Lynchings: Mónia Fein, mayor of Rosario, has condemned three lynchings that have occurred in the city over the past week, one of which ended in an 18 year old being beaten to death by locals. On Saturday, David Moreira tried to steal a female pedestrian’s bag from the back of a motorbike, but ended up struggling with her. A group of bystanders intervened and starting beating him, as his friend fled. By the time the police arrived, he had lost a large amount of brain tissue, and three days later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Two further incidents occurred yesterday, one after a pair of robbers fleeing on a motorbike hit a taxi and one, stunned from the impact, was beaten by various passersby, before the police arrived on the scene and intervened, likely saving his life. A final incident involved a youth who was also beaten by neighbours after being separated from his accomplices in an assault. In an interview Rosario’s Radio 2, Fein said: “I am absolutely against vigilante justice. It turns us into people who don’t value life.” She went on to underscore that those who have committed a crime should be punished, via the criminal justice system.
Mendoza Businessman Jailed for People Trafficking: In a landmark ruling, a landowner from Rivadavia, Mendoza, was sentenced to four years in prison without parole for the trafficking of 15 people, who were subject to inhumane living and working conditions on his property. The ruling marks the first time someone has been sentenced for trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation under the 2008 Anti-Trafficking Law. Raúl Comeglio was found guilty of having 15 people -including children- from the province of Tucumán picking grapes on his property who, according to court records, “lived in very precarious, deplorable conditions, in adobe shacks with cane roofing, next to spiders, rats, vinchucas, bats and without beds, without water, without toilets and under the promise by the landowner to pay them for the harvest they’d just worked in, have them registered and pay for the tickets back to their province.” It has been reported that the workers had gone for two days without food when they were found, in May 2012. Due to the overwhelming evidence against Comeglio, he was put through an ‘abbreviated trial’ whereby he negotiated his sentence with the prosecutor, thus shortening the process.
The post Argentina News Roundup: 28th March 2014 appeared first on The Argentina Independent.