While the president of the Dominican Association of Professors, Olimpia Gonzalez, has urged union members to not strike on Wednesday and Thursday as announced, she seems to no longer have control over her constituency. The ADP seems to be divided and affected by many internal problems. A recent scandal of a major RD$15 million+ fraud within the organization has met with resistance by the executive committee to investigate, giving way to speculation that some union officers may have been involved. Meanwhile, Minister of Education Milagros Ortiz said the two-day strike of public school teachers is unjustified. Teachers claim they are paid RD$2,500 a month, but the Minister says that the average salary is RD$5,652 for working one shift. She says the union is not taking into account the incentives the teachers receive. Ortiz says that Ministry statistics show that 53% of the 54,479 teachers on the public payroll make RD$8,000 to RD$12,000 a month. She says that 14% make more than RD$12,000, 25% makes RD$4,000 to $8,000 and 23% make RD$2,500 to RD$4,000. Olimpia Gonzalez has urged the teachers to wait until meeting with President Mejia before going on strike.
