University teachers in Venezuela: 5 years without a pay rise (200% inflation during th same period)

[ChangoLoa]

Public University teachers.

Food has tripled its price while our salaries haven't changed. As a reminder, military wages have been increased every year by 40% or 50%.

People of good faith with a milligram of social conscience in their brains will care while pure worshipers probably won't.

By Ultimas Noticias
Profesores llevan 5 años sin recibir aumento

Los profesores de la Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) se sumaron a la petición de los vicerrectores administrativos de diversas casas de estudios del país al solicitar al Ejecutivo un aumento en los recursos para el ejercicio fiscal 2011.

Argumentaron que con mayor presupuesto, los profesores podrán optar por mejores salarios. De igual modo, señalaron que se aumentarían las becas para los estudiantes, entre otros beneficios.

Según explicó el presidente de Apucv, Víctor Márquez, las normas de homologación de los académicos establece que el sueldo de los profesores debe modificarse cada dos años, y que en los últimos cinco años los docentes no han percibido ningún tipo de aumento salarial.

Por otra parte, Márquez refirió que un mayor presupuesto, permitiría un aumento en la matrícula de la UCV. Indicó que un docente con 17 años de experiencia académica y estudios de cuarto nivel devenga un salario de Bs 5.200. A su vez, comentó que el sueldo menor de un profesor sólo con estudios de cuarto nivel oscila en Bs. 1.700.

http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/Noticias/Profesores-llevan-5-anos--sin-recibir-aumento.aspx

[social_critic]

1. Low salaries for university professors lead to brain drain

This is one of the reasons why Venezuela is suffering from the mother of all brain drains. Right now the flow of professional emigrants, based on my personal observation, must be about 200-300 per month. I also understand the flow is about to increase multifold, because there's a surge in apartment sales and prices are not tracking inflation. The dollar black market rate has also surged.

Some of these indicators may be triggered by other causes, for example, the black market rate may be driven in part by the dollar devaluation (although I've found devaluation doesn't hit the black market as much as PDVSA activity in the black (so called parallel) market in the past, and the new jiggering they do with the SITME market).

In a similar fashion, the surge in apartment sales may be caused by the new regulations which make it nearly impossible to rent a property and make a reasonable profit, so it's better just to sell it at whatever price and then take the money out of the country using the black market. However, once a family has disposed of a rental property and has the money stashed offshore, they find the decision to leave a lot easier. So I imagine the emigration flow of the middle class will continue to increase until the government builds a new version of the Berlin wall, and the people are kept locked in - or until Chavez falls and is replaced by somebody who isn't a castroite communist.

[ChangoLoa]

2. Kick to this 6 month old post... just underlining the vital importance of the last pay raise.

And, on the behalf of the teachers' community, in order to express our eternal gratitude to the liberator of our people's potential: Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias.