Algerian Teachers Strike Work Demanding Better Salary

(3 Minutes Read)

Teachers and students are taking action at a time when public criticism of the government is becoming rarer. Teachers say the strike is significant amid a gradual shrinking of rights, including women, the press, and opposition parties.

Teachers throughout Algeria went on strike Wednesday to protest low salaries and deteriorating working conditions. This follows demonstrations staged by students last month in an unusual outpouring of protest. Students stood outside shuttered classrooms and roamed when teachers started a two-day strike.

Teachers and students are taking action at a time when public criticism of the government is becoming rarer. Teachers say the strike is significant amid a gradual shrinking of rights, including for women, the press, and opposition parties. The right to strike is “a right enshrined in the constitution,” said Hafidha Amiréche, a long-time trade unionist.

Gas-rich Algeria has long taken pride in its free education system and the opportunities it affords students and teachers. Yet despite investing more in education than its neighbours—the country only spends more on its military—the school system has become a target of popular anger toward larger government problems, including rising costs, corruption, and a lack of jobs for skilled and educated workers like teachers.

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Teachers say they’re underpaid and educated young people are increasingly trying to emigrate out of the country in search of opportunities, with European visa applications steadily rising.