Teachers’ Union Meet with Government to Stop Arrests

(Chilpancingo JG 5 November) The former leader of CETEG, the union locked in a struggle with the State Department of Education over labor conditions and pay for school teachers, Luis Muñoz Vázquez, reported that negotiations have commenced in earnest to freeze the arrest warrants that have been issued against union militants. He expressed doubt that the government would respect any agreements arrived at. Even though things are calm at the moment, the arrest warrants could be activated at any moment. Muñoz said that in 2008 35 arrest warrants were issued against union members for crimes of blocking public thoroughfares and depriving persons of their liberty, even though at that time the State Secretary of Education had agreed not to have the warrants issue. He said he believed that the government intends to go forward with enforcement of the law against union members who violate it, but that for the moment, while negotiations are ongoing, the situation has calmed down. When asked why the law should not be applied to union activists, the leader stated that it was because the government does not keep its word in previous commitments made to the teachers’ union.