The Constitutional Court (CC), by majority, decided to keep the collective pact of the Guatemalan Education Workers’ Union intact. The Attorney General’s Office (PGN) requested the suspension of seven articles of the current collective pact and the Court considered that there are no reasons for them to lose effect.
The PGN sought the suspension of seven articles of the authorized pact in 2022 by the administration of former president Alejandro Giammattei, in those granted to the STEG certain administrative powers that correspond to the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC).
Until now it is known that Judge Leyla Lemus, president of the Court, agreed with the provisional suspension of the contested articles. In addition to the president of the CC, Judge Héctor Hugo Pérez Aguilera, he would also have agreed to provisionally suspend the articles challenged by the PGN.
The teachers affiliated with Steg, who leads Joviel Acevedo, maintain a strike and camp in rejection of the salary increase discussed for the signing of a new collective pact. As of June, by decision of the MINEDUC, public sector teachers received an increase of 5%.
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Challenged articles
The unconstitutionality action filed by the PGN was aimed at the following articles:
- Article 1, subsection C: incorporates six unions outside the STEG, but with the right to the same benefits it receives.
- Article 20: Related to the quality of educational services. It forces the Mineduc to have the endorsement of the union to approve programs aimed at improving teaching.
- Article 21, subsection B: stipulates that Mineduc training must be within the framework of the collective pact and focus on specific aspects of the teaching work.
- Articles 45, 46 and 47: They regulate mixed joints as mediation mechanisms in labor conflicts. These can solve disputes, except when cases exceed their competence.
- Article 62: It refers to educational benefits, such as the extinct school medical insurance, so the authorities consider their permanence unnecessary.
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It is a provisional failure
Regarding the resolution of the CC to maintain the collective pact of the Guatemalan Education Workers Union without any modification, the Minister of Functioning Education, Francisco Cabrera, said:
“We are waiting for notification. In any case, we must bear in mind that it is a provisional failure. As soon as we have access to the resolution, we issue a position.”
About the confidentiality of the pact
In addition to the unconstitutionality that was presented by the PGN, there is An amparo action presented by a group of lawyers in the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), which questions the confidentiality in the negotiations of the Collective Education Pact.
On this action, the CC resolved an appeal that revokes the resolution granted in May last year by the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), in which they rejected the petition to publish the draft of the collective pact that is negotiated with the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) and the Union of Education Workers of Guatemala (Steg) that is led by Joviel Acevedo.
As a consequence of the revocation, The CSJ must know again the amparo presented by the lawyers Édgar Ortiz and Javier Urizar. On this occasion, it is the magistrates of the Supreme Court elected last October who must study the action.
“This Court estimates that, in the present case, contrary to those indicated by the Amparo Court, the applicants do show argument issued by the First Degrees Court of Amparo is wrong,” reads the resolution of the CC.
The decision was made unanimously with the vote in favor of the five titular magistrates.
The negotiation of the collective pact remains confidential, so far. The STEG has sought to stay that way, on the contrary, the Executive, the National Civic Movement (MCN) and the independent lawyers They have promoted legal resources to achieve its advertising.