BOGOTA, April 22 — Teachers of a rural town in Bogota, Colombia, went on strike in response to the Ministry of Education’s racist policies against working-class students.
The school administration maintained overcrowded classrooms by assigning 50 students to a room which can hold a maximum of 30, creating a health hazard, and harassing the students. This abuse, when added to the lack of a budget to respond to students’ needs, motivated the strike.
The ministry called on the teachers’ representative to stop the strike and begin negotiations. It also wanted to accept a parents’ representative. The union refused and demanded the presence of 17 parents, one for each rural district. The union demanded a negotiating committee be set up.
After several days of negotiations, it was agreed to use the budget to improve the school under parents’ supervision. This budget was already allocated but the dean had refused to spend it, a move that highlighted his sinister motives. The students will be placed in other schools.
This agreement was the product of working-class unity and forcefulness. It showed that the initial fear of several teachers — who argued nothing could be done and that they would get hurt — could be transformed by the struggle.
The teachers, as well as the other unions, have been suffering the consequences of the capitalist crisis. Year after year, they lose what they’ve won in previous struggles. The union bosses are a bunch of collaborationist misleaders who are in bed with the government.
Participation in reform struggles is part of the training for communist leaders. We must be part of those struggles to influence and guide the revolutionary struggle. Exploiting and attacking the working class is part and parcel of capitalism. It takes away crumbs workers gained through years of struggle.
A united working class under the leadership of the PLP is truly indestructible and in the long run the just revolutionary struggle for communism will succeed. Everything you do, and neglect to do, matters. Join PLP.
