“Go to work, you fucking tramps”: the response of the governor of La Rioja to the teachers who demanded a raise

the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintelaplayed in a strong confrontation with a group of teachers who gathered at the door of the Paseo Cultural Castro Barros to demand a salary increase, whom he called “the bums of shit”. The moment was recorded on video and the images that compromise the provincial president were broadcast on social networks.

The conflict with the teachers of La Rioja is not new, since the joint agreement for this year concluded in January was for a fixed amount of 12,000 remunerative pesos and another 10,000 that will be added to the basic one, which completes 25%. additional net. Thus, Quintela hoped that the school year 2023but classes have not yet started in the province.

There Association of Teachers and Professors of La Rioja (GPA) demand an increase of 35 thousand pesos and the improvement of the construction conditions of the schools which allow an optimal teaching of the courses. For this reason, the union has called for a strike so that classes will only resume after receiving a response from the provincial government or, failing that, the Nation’s Ministry of Labor takes action on the matter, according to a statement released. in March. 8 citing local media.

In this context, the teachers took advantage of the visit of the Governor of Chaco, Jorge Capitanich, to the province to reprimand Quintela, since he would accompany his counterpart from the Chaco in the presentation of his book “Argentina deserves better: the construction of a federal country”. In this way, the teachers were present at the door of the Paseo Cultural Castro Barros.

“The governor welcomes the teachers. We want democracy with decent wages. We’re tired of earning misery,” a woman can be heard complaining in the video posted on social media.

As Quintela was leaving the premises, another teacher approached him and asked the provincial president to be “respectful”. Suddenly, the governor replied, “Go to work, you bums.”

“How do you offend me like that? Why do you offend me like that?” The teacher who was in the protest reacted furiously. Mechanically, the people accompanying the governor pushed her away and Quintela quickly got into her vehicle. “Impolite,” the woman shouted. Seconds later, La Rioja’s president left the scene as demands for a pay rise echoed through a megaphone in the plaza.

A few hours before the presentation of Capitanich’s book, Quintela raised the issue with teachers and the union’s measure of force. “They have the right to take whatever strong action they see fit, we are distributing the resources in the best way possible. It’s not just doctors or teachers, we have a whole society of 400,000 Riojan people to respond to,” the governor explained in a dialogue with the press.

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Along these lines, the provincial leader remained firm in his position and stressed that there will be no increase despite the forceful measure of the teachers. Thus, he added: “We can’t take it anymore, what’s the point of signing a paper that can’t be filled in tomorrow”.

Therefore, he asked the teachers to “understand the situation so that the boys do not continue to harm each other”. However, before making its controversial statements, the AMP ratified the measure last Tuesday and assured that the appeal will be extended until March 17, according to information from MediaRioja.

So far, there has been no official statement from Quintela or the Governorate on the sayings, and there was no response from the union.

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