Valies: “We reject government’s proposal for wage system”

The new wage system of the government has been vehemently rejected by the striking teachers. Wilgo Valies, chairman of the Teachers’ Association (BvL) and the Alliance of Teachers in Suriname (ALS), on Monday pointed out that the wages have been seen and that the union members do not accept them. “The new figures are unacceptable”, said the union chairman who added that there were no negotiations with the unions despite the fact that an agreement was signed between the government and the teachers’ unions. “The government is trying to push the new wages through and the unions will use all of their strength to stop it”, said Valies. The union chairman made it clear that the government must stick to the agreement by holding negotiations in order to reach a wage system that is accepted by all parties. “The teachers no longer want a peanut salary as the one that is being presented by the government. The teachers want a good salary so that they no longer have to hustle by having additional jobs in order to make ends meet. The government should know that what it is presenting to us is not correct because the unions were never consulted”, said Valies.

Valies criticized Marcellino Nerkust, chairman of the Federation of Teachers in Suriname (Fols), for having accepted the government’s new wage system. Valies also criticized the meeting of the Catholic Teachers’ Union (KOB) which was held on Saturday because government representative Jozefzoon explained the revaluation system to the union members. “Is the union incapable of giving its members an explanation? The government is busy with power play but we can keep this up for a long time and we will therefore persevere”, said Valies.