Big Problem in Little Chinatown

Local scoreboard in Santa Anna

At the same time the United States was struggling through Vietnam, Central America was struggling through sweeping revolutions, and it appears that fighting spirit is still with the people today. Last Monday (the 12^th), when I showed up for my Spanish class, it seemed that it would be just another day of conjugating verbs and stumbling through translated sentences. But when I came back from the morning break at 10:30, the atmosphere at the school had changed a bit. My teacher informed me that the previous Thursday one of the other teachers had badly hurt his knee when he was with some students, and that the school was refusing to provide the proper paperwork so that his insurance would pay for it. As a result, a majority of the teachers were going on strike. So instead receiving a new set of irregular verbs to study that morning, I received an up close and personal lesson on labor relations in Central America. Before long rumors were flying through the school that the injured teacher was going to need an amputation on his leg and that the school didn’t care. The local news station showed up and interviewed teachers and students alike, the police showed up and refereed a heated debated between the striking teachers and the administration, and a lawyer appeared and gave his two cents on the legal side of situation. It was quite a show. By one in the afternoon, my housemate and I had seen enough of the three ring circus, so we walked back home for some of Juanita’s delicious home cooking, not knowing what would happen the next day when we came back for classes.

When we arrived Tuesday morning, we were met in the streets by fifteen of the most senior teachers in the school, including our own, who had been fired for going on strike. Turns out things didn’t exactly quiet down over night… We walked in the school to ask what was going on and why they had fired our teachers, and we were joined by all the other frenzied students. First the school hadn’t provided the teacher with health insurance, and now they had fired our teachers for standing up for him. So the school administration stood up and explained to everyone their side of the story, saying that they’d been with the teacher the whole time and that he was going to have the surgery he needed, and that they was forced to discipline the teachers because of the negative light they had cast on the school. They also said that a few of the teachers were trying to take advantage of the situation and somehow get money or other benefits from it. This quieted down a lot of the students, and many of them relented and decided to stay with the school and continue their studies. I and a handful of the other students, though, just couldn’t completely buy the story. Some of the details were seemingly being bent, and some the the other statements were flat out wrong. There were just too many things that seemed a little fishy for me to continue studying at the school. So now, I and a few of the other students continue to meet with the teachers we had at the school who were fired, we just meet them in a different location and study independently. In fact I’m paying much less for the Spanish lessons, and they’re making much more, because all of my money is going directly to them. In my opinion, it’s a good situation for both parties. The lady I have for my classes is a really good teacher, and I’m learning a lot from her, so it’s good for me that I don’t have to change, and it’s good for her that she still has an income for the next few weeks. 

Now that's some tasty cookin right there.

In Latin America it’s not uncommon for employers to take advantage of their employees, nor is it uncommon for the employees to try to do the same. It seems clear that the situation was handled poorly by both parties. The teachers probably didn’t need to call in the tv station, the police, and a lawyer. That might’ve been overreacting… But when the school fired the teachers who were involved, and who also happened to be most senior and some of the best teachers at the school, it struck me much more as a reaction of revenge than anything else.  In addition, his whole story just didn’t quite add up. Was there corruption at the school? And if so to what extent? I’m not exactly sure. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of both party’s stories. The bottom line is that it was a great experience for me to see how labor relations down here work. I learned a lot from it, and I’m still getting my Spanish classes. Plus now they are a little bit cheaper, so I can buy a few more of those delicious tostadas the old ladies sell in the streets, and a few more of the cervesas with my friends at the bar around the corner. Life is good…