Yesterday saw the start of two-day strikes called by three different organizations representing doctors, teachers and transport drivers. The tableau left many Dominicans scratching their heads and questioning the motives of the strikers. Tourists and most DR1 readers were for the most part not affected by the strike activities.The teachers’ strike, called by the Dominican Teachers’ Association (ADP), left classrooms empty in public schools nationwide. Private schools were not affected. The ADP strike has puzzled many a parent and citizen. It was originally called to protest deductions made to teachers’ paychecks, the delay in providing teachers with promised financial incentives, and the Education Ministry’s delay in issuing regulations to give effect to the new General Education Law. But before the strike was convened, the Ministry agreed to rectify the mistake that resulted in the pay deductions and to talk about incentives. Only the regulations delay was left as a strike excuse. National Superior Education Council (CONES) President Alejandrina Germ?n asked ADP to explain to parents why this merited disrupting tests currently being given to students for their grades.The doctors’ strike was called by the Dominican Medical Association (AMD) and affected facilities in the Northeast and the national maternity center Nuestra Se?ora de la Altagracia. The doctors are demanding income increases for their services rendered to public hospitals and clinics. Yesterday Public Health Minister Altagracia Guzm?n Marcelino expressed puzzlement at the motivation for the strike. Speaking to reporters at the inauguration of a new family health center in Santo Domingo’s El Tamarindo sector, Dr. Guzm?n Marcelino said there was no reason for the strike, and that the AMD had not tried to win its demands through normal channels first. She said that the Fern?ndez Government agrees that doctors need to be paid better, and this issue should have been breached first by AMD in the committee it shares with the Ministry, the government’s Planning Director and the Directorate-General of Hospitals.The transport strike lasted only for a few hours yesterday and was concentrated in the Eastern portion of Santo Domingo across the Ozama River. Called by the transport union Fenatrano, the strike seeks a cut in gasoline prices and the supposed RD$400 million owed by the government due to a RD$2,000-per taxi subsidy the government started paying drivers back when it first raised gasoline prices. Fenatrano also says it is protesting what it says is government stalling in transferring ownership of new buses on major routes to private operators, although the Director of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET), Hamlet Hermann, says that the process is proceeding apace with no foot-dragging whatever on AMET’s part. The Fenatrano strike primarily inconvenienced employees trying to get work across the river during the morning rush hour, leaving many a worker angry and frustrated. Only the OMSA public buses and private taxis were seen operating along the strike route. Fenatrano has called for more partial-day stoppages today, most again situated in Ozama.
