{"id":25299,"date":"2023-08-01T15:10:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T20:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mascolombia.com\/unions-announce-teachers-strike-over-upcoming-fomag-contract-decision\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T12:17:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:17:52","slug":"unions-announce-teachers-strike-over-upcoming-fomag-contract-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mascolombia.com\/en\/unions-announce-teachers-strike-over-upcoming-fomag-contract-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions announce teachers\u2019 strike over upcoming FOMAG contract decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In several departments of Colombia there will be a teachers\u2019 strike<\/strong>. The reason is the same: to reject the failures in the provision of health services<\/strong> to teachers and to demand the FOMAG<\/strong> Board of Directors not to renew the contracts<\/strong> with the current operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the calls for the strike sums up the discomfort of many teachers in one sentence: \u201cthe operators have quit and the teachers can\u2019t take it anymore\u201d.<\/strong> In fact, every month public school teachers in Colombia generate between 2,000 and 2,500 complaints<\/strong> about the provision of the service, according to Fiduprevisora figures. These figures reveal the urgency and importance of the demands of teachers, since these professionals are a fundamental pillar in the development of society, since, among other things, using tools such as Microsoft MS-100: Practice Test Dumps Questions<\/a>, they lay the foundations for the development of research in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teachers\u2019 unions in Atl\u00e1ntico, Santander and Bol\u00edvar<\/strong> are joining this week the teachers\u2019 strike that is being called in several territorial entities of the nation, and which took place last week in the department of Quind\u00edo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are only three months to go before the beginning of a new contracting stage<\/strong> for the provision of medical assistance services to teachers, which could lead to a renewal of contracts for four more years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this scenario materializes, the current providers would continue to provide health services as they have been doing so far, a situation that has set off alarm bells in several unions whose members are not satisfied with the service received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call made by the teachers\u2019 unions to FOMAG is to demand that the provider companies comply with the terms of reference and that, as of October 31<\/strong> of this year, when the last extension expires, the contracts are not renewed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week there will be a teachers\u2019 strike in Bolivar, Atl\u00e1ntico and Santander, and others may follow<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the department of Bol\u00edvar<\/strong>, the board of directors of the Sindicato \u00danico de Educadores y Trabajadores de la Educaci\u00f3n de Bol\u00edvar (SUDEB) announced the decision to call a departmental teachers\u2019 strike next Thursday, August 3<\/strong>, in a day that will last 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The promotional poster to summon the teachers reads as follows: \u201cthe board of directors of SUDEB denounces the risk to the life and health<\/strong> of the teachers due to the poor medical services provided by the Organizaci\u00f3n Cl\u00ednica General del Norte ZENTRIA and UT Red Integrada FOSCAL\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Thursday\u2019s mobilization in Cartagena will begin at 8:00 a.m., and the teachers of the Special District of Cartagena and the municipalities of the north of Bolivar, mainly, have been summoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the department of Atl\u00e1ntico<\/strong>, where a total cessation of activities is expected, the Association of Educators of Atl\u00e1ntico (Adea) and the Association of Educators of Barranquilla (Adeba) decreed a 48-hour teachers\u2019 strike for August 1 and 2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision was also joined by two other unions in the department of Atl\u00e1ntico: the Union of Education Managers (USDE) and the Union of Teachers\u2019 Managers of Atl\u00e1ntico and Barranquilla (Usdidab). Both unions stated that they are \u201cmotivated by the situation of the health system that they have been providing to teachers on a daily basis\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, in the northeast of the country, the Santander Teachers Union (SES) also called a teachers\u2019 strike for Wednesday, August 2. The strike, which will last 24 hours<\/strong>, has been called to protest, among other issues of interest to teachers such as the readjustment of the teaching staff, the \u201cterrible health service received by teachers and their beneficiaries\u201d<\/strong> and to ask the Board of Directors of FOMAG to take action on the matter and avoid renewing the contracts of the current operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is known that in several departments in the north, center and southwest of the country, regional unions are evaluating the possibility of calling a work stoppage in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 910,000 people, including teachers and their families, depend on FOMAG<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to data from the Ministry of National Education (MEN), there are currently about 400,100 teachers affiliated<\/strong> to the National Teachers\u2019 Social Benefits Fund, FOMAG<\/strong>, who are beneficiaries of the special health regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of these, 334,000<\/strong> are active teachers and 66,080<\/strong> are pensioners<\/strong>. The beneficiaries<\/strong>, as the family members who are economically dependent on teachers are known, are approximately 509,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, around 910,000 users throughout the country are affiliated to the teachers\u2019 special health regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not surprising, then, that in a single week the country is on the eve of three calls for a teachers\u2019 strike due to the deterioration of the health service and the alleged lack of control by the FOMAG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advantages of the special health regime for teachers and their beneficiaries<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since the late 1980s, teachers have been beneficiaries of a special health regime that provides them with more comprehensive care than traditional EPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the advantages that the Teachers\u2019 Health System offers to its affiliates, contributors and beneficiaries are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n