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)