Puerto Rico Teachers Lead Push for Higher Pay for Public Workers
The New York Times
The demands for increased wages and better working conditions come as Puerto Rico tries to pull itself out of bankruptcy.
SAN JUAN, P.R. — In Puerto Rico, the base pay for public-school teachers is $1,750 a month — a figure that has not increased in 13 years and has forced Jessica Colón Cartagena, a special-education teacher, to tutor students and run a catering business with her husband to make ends meet.
“They don’t value us,” she said. “We don’t mean anything to politicians.”
So on Wednesday, Ms. Colón, 40, did not go to work in her school in Cayey, a mountain town in central Puerto Rico. Instead, she went to San Juan, the capital, and joined thousands of other teachers, firefighters and labor union members demanding better pay for public workers as Puerto Rico tries to pull itself out of the huge bankruptcy that has strained daily life on the island.
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