Wage strikes disrupt universities

In an effort to achieve wage increases, professors at 13 universities across Venezuela have gone on strike, bringing campus operations to a halt, writes Sascha Bercovitch for http://venezuelanalysis.com.

University strikes, normally led by professors and students belonging to the conservative opposition, have become common over the past few years in Venezuela, delaying classes and often causing students to graduate later than expected. As the current strikes began at several universities last month, groups in Caracas led a large march through the city, during which Minister for University Education Pedro Calzadilla spoke.

In a statement released last week, Calzadilla encouraged the discussion of university conditions at a labour standards meeting, which he described as "a new way to process and arrive at collective agreements". He urged those involved in the strike to reconsider their actions so that students' plans of study are not affected. “Academic institutions need to be spaces of peace, dialogue, tolerance and democratic coexistence,” he said.
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