Ahead of the university march, UBA vice-chancellor warned that 60% of professors earn below the poverty line

Three days in a row university march in leadership Javier Mileavice-rector University of Buenos Aires, Emiliano Yacobittihe came out to condemn salary crisis sector and called on Congress for lawmakers to insist Funding Act once the presidential veto is formalized: ““If the mobilization is very massive, we will be closer to any MP who wants to change his vote to change his mind.”condemned.

“Today you have more than. 60% of workers universities in all categories below the poverty line. An associate professor who is full-time, eight hours a day every day of the week, is paid 840,000 pesos in hand” said Yacobitti, who was also an MP for the Radical Civic Union until December last year.

The Vice-Chancellor of UBA explained that due to the lack of budget, the deterioration of the university’s quality of education is already visible: “This causes many teachers to reduce their determination to get another job and thus survive. month. some will get offers from private universities or from other countriesand that will have a huge impact,” he said in an interview with Radio with you.

At the same time, he illustrated this situation on the example of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where 48 teachers have already resigned: “That’s 10% of the teaching staff,” he said. “There’s no way one can keep a teacher. At a private college they offer double or triple what he charges in publicand in some cases they are asking them as a demand to stop teaching at UBA because they see it as competition,” explained Yacobitti.

And he continued: “For the past nine months. There was an adjustment of the salaries of university professors and the rest of the workers, which were not very good salaries in themselves, but which never in the history of democracy Until now, they’ve had the loss of purchasing power that they have.’

Last Thursday, a meeting was held to negotiate collective agreements between the teachers union and officials of the Department of Human Capital. The government offered an overhaul 6.8% for Octoberbut the union refused.

“The government recognized two things that it had not recognized until now: first, that the loss is nearly 50% relative to inflationand secondly, the wage loss that undergraduates have had is at least 20% more than the rest of the civil servants, this has been denied until recently,” the UBA vice-chancellor noted on this point of conflict.

The executive has ratified that there will be a veto — the president has until Oct. 3 — arguing that the priority is maintain balance of public accounts. But Yacobitti has now revealed that he led the meetings with officials from the Ministry of Economy “Everybody tells you that university costs are negligible for the deficit.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office It reaches 0.14% of GDP to cover the updating of operating costs of universities and their hospitals, funds for science and technology and conversion of salaries.

“Compared to the benefit that a public college creates, this is an investment, not an expense. But the president does not want to back down when it comes to the fact that Congress has a role with regard to the laws that it vetoes, and that must fall into one bag,” analyzed the vice-chancellor of the University of Buenos Aires.

In this sense, Yacobitti emphasized that with Wednesday’s march they do not hope to change the position of President Milea, but rather the aim is to call on Congress to that the higher education funding law will not meet the same fate as the pension reformwhich did not receive two-thirds of the votes to insist on its proclamation.

“What we are proposing between rectors, students and staff is this most of the deputies were elected with the idea that they are going to defend the public collegewho believed in a state that functioned effectively. We have such a high level of acceptance and credibility in society because It is a part of the state that worksthen we must take care of it much more than other things,” insisted Yacobitti.

And regarding the possibility of some legislators changing their position in favor of a veto, he added: “We have no guarantee, but certainly if Wednesday’s mobilization is very massive “We will be closer to making every MP who wants to change his vote think twice.”

A federal march was called Wednesday, October 2 at 5 p.m. The demonstration will take place in front of Congress.

State university rectors – grouped in the National Interuniversity Council (CIN) – along with organizations representing teachers and non-teachers (Union Front of National Universities) and students (Argentine Federation of Universities) will play a major role. protest. The support of other trade unions, political and social organizations and representatives of Peronism, radicalism and the left is also expected.