In Chile, teachers walked off the job Wednesday for a 24-hour nationwide strike, demanding the government make good on promises to reimburse teachers for a “historical debt” incurred when the former dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet slashed their salaries and pensions. This is union leader Paulina Cartagena Vidal, speaking from a march of teachers in Chile’s capital, Santiago.
Paulina Cartagena Vidal: “We are demanding, among other important things, the payment of the historical debt, an urgent demand that does not resist further delay. We are also demanding the prompt payment of the retirement incentive bonus, a bonus due to the low pensions of workers.”