1,000 teachers on strike in Bali

1,000 teachers on strike in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: Some 1,000 teachers in the capital of
Karangasem regency, some 75 kilometers east of here, staged a
strike that virtually shut down dozens of state schools on
Friday.

It was the first teachers' strike reported in the usually
serene province of Bali. Rumor has it that teachers in several
other regencies plan to also strike over the next few days.

"All teachers turned up at school, but they refused to teach.
Instead they just gathered in the teachers' room. At around 9
a.m. the principal told us to go home since no classes would be
held today," one student said.

The striking teachers, who were coordinated by the local
branch of the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI), vowed to continue
the strike unless the local administration immediately paid their
January-to-July back pay.

"We should not keep talking about how important education is,
and at the same time neglect the basic rights of teachers," the
chairman of Karangasem's PGRI, I Ketut Kertia, stressed.

The strike in turn triggered a response from some 100
high school students, who in the afternoon staged a
peaceful demonstration at Tanah Aron Square. They
voiced their disappointment over the strike, and
demanded that the government do something to resolve the matter.

The students later met with the chairman of the Karangasem
Legislative Council, I Nyoman Matal, who then promised to put
pressure on the PGRI so that teachers would resume work. (56)