Original article: Sindicato de Fundación Manquemávida denuncia precariedad: docentes costean hasta sus materiales de clase
On March 2, the Manquemávida Workers Union resumed a legal strike following the breakdown of mandatory mediation attempts at the end of 2025. The conflict, which has left 40 workers unable to perform their duties at the start of the school year, arose from the foundation’s total rejection of a petition demanding salary adjustments, overtime pay, and provision of essential office supplies currently funded by the teachers themselves.
The collective bargaining process between the Manquemávida Educational Foundation Workers Union (Santa Cruz) and the institution commenced on October 30, 2025. The original petition included key requests like salary adjustments for assistants, updates to meal allowances, overtime pay, maintenance of technological tools (laptops), and provision of basic office supplies.
Despite the union’s claims of willingness to negotiate and having even lowered their initial demands (such as giving up on overtime pay and material provision), the Foundation dismissed all proposals. On December 15, nearly 90% of employees voted to support the strike.
After mandatory mediation failed on December 29, the legal strike took effect on December 30, 2025. The union held the school responsible for a lack of willingness to reach agreements and criticized measures that increased the number of students per classroom.
The movement intensified again on March 2, 2026, coinciding with the start of the school year, leaving 40 workers without jobs. On March 4, the union presented a new proposal and requested voluntary mediation from the Labor Directorate to resolve the conflict.
In an interview with El Ciudadano, the union specified that their primary demands focus on time flexibility to ensure full payment of the meal allowance. Regarding this allowance, they proposed a staggered increase: an immediate $20,000, followed by $10,000 increases in 2027 and 2028.
«While this allowance is nominally associated with food, it practically serves as necessary financial support for workers, who must ultimately manage their incomes against salaries that often fall short of covering living costs. In this context, this allowance represents a basic measure to support the well-being of workers,» said the union.
Additionally, they are demanding a conflict termination bonus to cover all strike days, committing to make up for them through transparent organizational schemes.
The union also criticized the «absurd» lack of basic supplies, indicating that workers finance their own tools and equipment. Given the precarious situation regarding overtime pay and lack of technical materials, the organization reminded that these are legal obligations of the employer and will not rule out judicial actions if the company fails to ensure minimum operating conditions.
«In fact, teachers end up covering some basic supplies for the performance of our work, such as printing or using our own technological devices. Specifically regarding printers, the issue is not that the school lacks them, as they exist, but that they are located in restricted access offices or spaces. This forces teachers to rely on secretaries or others to print educational materials, complicating and delaying a task that often requires immediacy,» they added.
On another front, regarding the possibility raised by the institution to increase the number of students per classroom, the union expressed concern for both staff and parents. They noted that with the current student count, the educational work is already demanding and intense, so adding more students could jeopardize the manner in which educational processes are currently carried out.
«The impact of such a measure is not limited to the classroom; it extends across the entire institution. Specifically, it means more evaluations to review, more material to prepare and print, greater chances of conflict in school coexistence, and, generally, a higher level of crowding in educational spaces. All this ultimately affects the conditions under which teaching work is carried out and, consequently, the quality of the teaching process,» they emphasized.
According to the union, the management has employed a strategy of wear and tear and precarization as the institution began negotiation by offering conditions that fell below previous minimum standards. They also denounced an «absurd» rhetoric from the school, where workers are expected to be thankful for basic legal obligations—like the payment of contributions—rather than valuing their professional contributions.
For the workers, dialogue is trapped in a logic where the foundation seeks to instill a sense of debt among staff, ignoring that their demands are limited and fundamental to guaranteeing respect and dignity for teachers.
Finally, following the failure of mediation on March 5, the union reported that the institution made a proposal that was «vague and testimonial» under an unacceptable pressure timeframe. Workers labeled the school’s strategy as a deliberate attempt to wear them down, emphasizing that their current demands are minimal and essential. Given the management’s refusal to address these basic points, the union has confirmed the intensification of the strike, holding the school accountable for the consequences this conflict generates for students and the entire educational community.
Union Solidarity: The Support Network Protecting Workers in Santa Cruz
Amid the lack of agreements and criticisms of the management’s performance, the movement has received support from the National Federation of Education Workers (FENATED), who called for union solidarity to support the demands of Santa Cruz workers.
In an interview with El Ciudadano, FENATED president Daniela Barruel explained that the organization’s role is to provide comprehensive, technical, and supportive assistance to unions in collective bargaining processes.
In this regard, FENATED activated a support network that includes direct coordination with the Department of Subsidized Private Schools of the Teachers’ Association and ongoing legal support since the conflict began.
In addition to disseminating the union’s cause, the Federation has actively intervened with law enforcement authorities after reports of intimidation, such as the presence of plainclothes officers at the school. This support aims to protect leaders from intimidating practices, ensuring that the negotiation process has external protection and national visibility.
The organization highlighted a systematic employer logic aimed at dismantling union activity through anti-union practices currently subject to legal proceedings in multiple regions of the country. According to the Federation, there is a deliberate intention by those responsible to hinder labor organization and minimize historical achievements, such as improvements in base salaries, professional allowances, medical leave, and housing benefits.
They stated that reactivating the strike at the beginning of the school year is a last resort after exhausting all dialogue avenues. Furthermore, they emphasized that there are crucial demands such as basic supplies and minimum hygiene and work conditions; for the organization, teacher and staff well-being is directly proportional to the quality of education that students receive.
Despite having actively pursued mediation processes before the Labor Inspectorate, the lack of goodwill from the other party has led to legal proceedings over two complaints regarding anti-union practices, highlighting a disconnect between the workers’ willingness to agree and the employer’s intransigence.
From FENATED, they noted that beyond salary-related matters, the union demands basic resources for teaching—such as access to printers, stable Wi-Fi, computers, and fundamental materials like sheets or cardboard—elements that workers must currently finance out of their pockets to ensure educational continuity. For the organization, this situation illustrates a corporate logic of savings that prioritizes profit over the well-being of teachers and student learning, forcing workers to finance with their resources the infrastructure that the employer should legally provide.
Finally, the organization denounced a systematic exclusion of workers in the formulation of public policies, despite the sector facing a time of increasing conflict and union maturity.
The Federation emphasized that the use of the legal strike is not an isolated act, but a legitimate tool to correct deficiencies in classrooms that those responsible ignore. In alignment with international standards, they demand that the state and institutions recognize unions as fundamental actors in the educational community, as their existence not only dignifies the work of teachers and assistants but significantly improves the quality of the teaching-learning process.
