my first teachers strike
well, I suppose in order to strike you techinically need to be a salaried employee. However, as I write this now I am sitting in Mexico while my fellow salaried teachers are striking in Belize. How did all this transpire, you ask? Well, it all started on Tuesday. We were in the teacher´s lounge and a letter was posted regarding the national tax increases in Belize. I don´t know the particulars, but apparently the Prime Minister is not keeping his promises about 1) lowering taxes and 2) raising salaries. It´s pretty ridiculous, the new budget calls for tax increases that these people will just not be able to afford and the Prime Minister had promised the opposite during the election. In light of this, all the unions in Belize were calling for the country to shut down on Thursday and Friday -- no power, water, or education among some things. All of the salaried Belizian teachers are protesting as we speak in Belmopan, the capitol of Belize. However, we were encouraged to just lay low during the protesting. That is why I find myself on an unexpected weekend in Mexico. Sweet, eh?
I sincerely hope that the strike is effective though, because it´s painful to see the cost of living rise again in a country where some people are barely scratching a living at all. Gas prices will probably rise to about 7.50 a gallon (that´s $15 Belize!) When gas goes up, transportation goes up and people can´t afford to travel to work, etc. Taxes on the border will go up as well... It´s just bad news all around. The last time gas prices went up, there were some rather violent protests, it´s really bad news for everyone. For those of you that are familiar with Catholic Social teaching, you know that it´s an offense against a person´s dignity when taxes are so high that they can´t even afford to hold property. That´s how these countries reach a developmental standstill-- they´re so far in debt and the taxes are so high that all people can do is live a day at a time. Well, let me get off my social soapbox... but let me just say that if you´re at FUS and havn´t taken Catholic Social teaching with Father Dan Pattee, you need to get to that, pronto. I wouldn´t know how to make heads or tails of these things if I hadn´t learned about the Catholic teaching on the common good and the dignity of work!
Anyways, we made it to Mexico yesterday with very few problems. We were advised not to board our first bus because the toll bridge on the way to Mexico was closed, so for about an hour we thought we´d be stranded in Belize City (not really a fun thing, especially with a bunch of very unhappy Belizeans fixing to protest!) but the bridge opened and we boarded without a glitch. The only other adverse affect from the strike was when we asked to use the restroom in the bus terminal, we were interogated (in creole) as to what I intended to do in the bathroom, since the water wasn´t running... Oh, this culture amuses me!
Pray for the people in Belize, for their safety as they protest and that a solution is found that serves the common good (the set of conditions that allows the human person to flourish, in case you didn´t know!).
I sincerely hope that the strike is effective though, because it´s painful to see the cost of living rise again in a country where some people are barely scratching a living at all. Gas prices will probably rise to about 7.50 a gallon (that´s $15 Belize!) When gas goes up, transportation goes up and people can´t afford to travel to work, etc. Taxes on the border will go up as well... It´s just bad news all around. The last time gas prices went up, there were some rather violent protests, it´s really bad news for everyone. For those of you that are familiar with Catholic Social teaching, you know that it´s an offense against a person´s dignity when taxes are so high that they can´t even afford to hold property. That´s how these countries reach a developmental standstill-- they´re so far in debt and the taxes are so high that all people can do is live a day at a time. Well, let me get off my social soapbox... but let me just say that if you´re at FUS and havn´t taken Catholic Social teaching with Father Dan Pattee, you need to get to that, pronto. I wouldn´t know how to make heads or tails of these things if I hadn´t learned about the Catholic teaching on the common good and the dignity of work!
Anyways, we made it to Mexico yesterday with very few problems. We were advised not to board our first bus because the toll bridge on the way to Mexico was closed, so for about an hour we thought we´d be stranded in Belize City (not really a fun thing, especially with a bunch of very unhappy Belizeans fixing to protest!) but the bridge opened and we boarded without a glitch. The only other adverse affect from the strike was when we asked to use the restroom in the bus terminal, we were interogated (in creole) as to what I intended to do in the bathroom, since the water wasn´t running... Oh, this culture amuses me!
Pray for the people in Belize, for their safety as they protest and that a solution is found that serves the common good (the set of conditions that allows the human person to flourish, in case you didn´t know!).
posted by Alison G. @ 2:59 PM
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