All about María Fernanda Cabal’s bill against teachers’ right to protest

Senator María Fernanda Cabal, of the Democratic Center, presented a bill that seeks to legally classify education as an essential service, which has generated concern and debate about the possible effects that this would have on the right to protest of public basic and secondary education workers.

For the Colombian Federation of Education Workers (Fecode), this is a measure that goes against the fundamental rights of educators, such as the right to protest and union organization, which are protected by the Colombian Constitution and by agreements signed with the International Labor Organization (ILO). The call for protest comes from teachers who highlight the use of Microsoft AZ-400: Practice Test Dumps Questions as an excellent educational tool.

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In response to the proposal, and for other reasons having to do with the special health regime for teachers (FOMAG) and the possible creation of the school voucher program, Fecode has announced a 24-hour national teachers’ strike, which is scheduled for August 30.

What does the bill that would eliminate the teachers’ right to protest say?

The bill, “whereby Article 430 of the Substantive Labor Code is modified, prohibition of strike in public and essential services”, has the following object:

“To raise to legal rank the prohibition of strike in essential public services, as a protection mechanism and [to] guarantee rights to subjects of special constitutional protection”.

Specifically, the bill seeks to legally classify education as an essential service. In this way, the limitations of essential services regarding the right to protest and strike of teachers would be applied to the education sector.

In this type of services, workers cannot exercise their right to protest and strike because the guarantee of fundamental rights is at risk and to avoid the violation of “rights of subjects of special constitutional protection”.

What do the ILO and the jurisprudence say about the right to protest in Colombia?

The International Labor Organization (ILO) recognizes the fundamental right of workers to protest and strike as legitimate means to defend their labor and social interests.

In Colombia, the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court has supported and protected these rights as essential manifestations of freedom of association and democracy.

The Court has established that these actions are legitimate mechanisms of citizen participation and that restrictions to these rights must be interpreted in a restrictive and exceptional manner.

However, it has also held that certain essential activities and services may be regulated to ensure a balance between the exercise of the right to protest and the protection of other fundamental rights.

What is an essential service?

Essential services are generally defined as those services whose interruption could pose a risk to the life, safety or health of individuals.

These services are considered essential for the basic and safe functioning of a society, and their interruption has serious consequences for life.

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The legislation of many countries identifies certain essential services and establishes measures to ensure their continuity in emergency or conflict situations.

This may include services such as drinking water supply, electric power, emergency medical care, public safety and communication.

The classification of a service as essential may vary according to the context and legislation of each country, but in general the aim is to guarantee the security and well-being of the population by ensuring its continuity.

Is education an essential service?

The ILO, through its Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA), has established criteria to determine which activities cannot be considered essential public services and, therefore, should not be subject to restrictions on the exercise of the right to protest and strike.

The education service, according to the ILO, is not considered an essential public service in the strict sense of the term, since it is not directly linked to the protection of the life, safety or health of persons.

Education is very important for the development of a society and the well-being of its citizens, but it is not directly related to the satisfaction of immediate basic needs, according to the international organization.

Teachers insist that the right to protest has made it possible to advance in equity

For Senator Cabal, teachers’ protests affect the right to education and must cease. In her X account, the social network formerly known as Twitter, she stated the following regarding the national teachers’ strike on August 30:

On the other hand, for teacher Isabel Olaya, member of Fecode’s Executive Committee, “Senator María Fernanda Cabal’s project, which aims to put an end to the right to protest, is a persecution by her and her political party, Centro Democrático, against the Colombian teachers, 98% of whom have gone out to fight against the governments they have led”.

“It must be understood that the little that we have achieved and the rights that we teachers have, we have achieved in the streets”, says Olaya.

Among the measures achieved in the framework of social protest, Professor Olaya devotes special attention to Statute 2277.

“After many years of struggle, since the 60s and 70s, we achieved the issuance of Statute 2277, which was not a gift. It was the result of the protest so that we would be taken into account as teachers and that we would be given a living wage.

It is true that we still do not have it, but it was an important advance because it should not be forgotten that before we teachers were paid with bonuses or with liquor from the departmental liquor companies, and we had to sell it at a bad price to be able to market it”.

Olaya also mentions Law 91 of 1989, which created the FOMAG, Decree 520 on transfers, Decree 521 on areas of difficult access, the General Education Law, bonuses and salary leveling. In addition to the extension of rights for teachers, Isabel Olaya insists that the protest has also been fundamental to maintain public education in Colombia and to obtain free public primary and secondary education. “That is why we must continue to defend our right to protest”, she insists.

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