Massive protests by Venezuelan public workers continue. This Thursday, They took to the streets again to claim the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro for “starvation wages.”
Public employees demonstrated against the instructions of the National Budget Office (Onapre), which takes away labor benefits from workers and violates all parity.
The teachers mobilized accompanied by members of the health sector and pensioners. “The united people will never be defeated”, “No more mistreatment”, “This working class demands full payment for their vacations”are some of the slogans pronounced by the demonstrators.
The Venezuelan workers demand the full payment of the vacation bonus that, according to what was reported by the Chavista authorities, It will be delivered in installments over the next three months.
This Wednesday the NGO Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS) indicated that During the first three days of August, 43 protests were registered in Venezuela.
The organization detailed, on its Twitter account, that on Monday, August 1 and Tuesday, August 2, 30 demonstrations took place in some 16 regions of Venezuela; while this Wednesday, until 8:30 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT), 13 protests were recorded in nine states.
According to data from the NGO, these are four demonstrations less than those that took place during the first three days of August 2021, when they computed 47 protest actions throughout the territory.
The observatory added that the demands of the protesters in the three days of this month were related to housing, social security, education and labor rights.
Yesterday, a thousand Venezuelan teachers, public employees and retirees protested in the center of Caracas to demand pending payments, as well as respect for their contractual rights. in a mobilization they called “the march of the empty pots”.
With pots and spoons, the protesters walked part of the center of the Venezuelan capital until they reached the headquarters of the Ministry of Labor, where a commission submitted a document rejecting the instructions of the National Budget Office.
The educators walked peacefully through the center of the Venezuelan capital, carrying signs that read “the salary is a family patrimony”, “fair wages and fair vacation pay”.
The calculation of the payment of the vacation bonus -which is paid to workers in the education sector at the end of the school year in July- by decision of the National Budget Office (ONAPRE) had as reference the salary of 2021 ($1.52 per month), arguing that the new labor agreement has not yet been signed. The measure caused great discomfort among educators, who consider that it is a disrespect for their rights and claims.
Last week, the OVCS published a report in which it indicated that in Venezuela there were 3,892 protests during the first half of the year, that is, an average of 22 daily, which represents an increase of one fifteen% compared to the same period in 2021, when 3,393 demonstrations were documented.
(With information from EFE and AP)
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