Puerto Rico teachers put off strike, but say still could happen

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080131-0527-puertorico-teacherstrike.html

ASSOCIATED PRESS

5:27 a.m. January 31, 2008

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rican teachers will remain on the job at least through next week, putting off a strike that had been threatened to start as early as Friday, the head of their union said.

Teachers Federation President Rafael Feliciano told a local radio station Thursday that teachers still might strike for higher wages and better working conditions, and he urged Puerto Rican Education Secretary Rafael Aragunde to resume negotiations.

“If he is going to insist on confrontation, the teachers will give him a lesson in dignity,” the union cief said.

With contract talks at an impasse, the union that represents the U.S. Caribbean territory's 42,000 teachers, had warned that a strike could start as early as Friday.

Feliciano told radio station WSKN that teachers have decided to stay on the job at least through next week. After that, a strike “will begin when the executive committee decides,” he said.

Puerto Rican law forbids disruption of the public education system, so strikers are potentially vulnerable to being fired. The island's government labor relations board decertified the Teachers' Federation last month after some of its members authorized a walkout. Many rank-and-file unions members are divided over the threatened strike.

The starting base salary for a teacher in Puerto Rico is $19,200 a year – lower than any U.S. state and about a third less than the average on the mainland.