Venezuelan professors' union denounces discriminatory bonus payments

Venezuela's Federation of University Teachers' Associations (Fapuv) has denounced what it calls the chaotic and discriminatory distribution of the professional responsibility bonus. The organization stated that the benefit, paid on July 30 and 31, failed to reach the majority of university professors.

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This July 30, the government again paid the so-called Professional Responsibility Bonus, again in a chaotic and discriminatory manner. Payments began on Thursday the 30th late in the afternoon and concluded on Friday the 31st. In the case of our university, it discriminated against 69% of the teaching staff.

According to Fapuv, 69% of the teaching staff at one university were excluded from the payment. The group also noted that contract, temporary, and retired professors were left out. Fapuv questioned the utility of a bonus that reaches less than a third of all university professors, adding that administrative and support staff were entirely excluded.

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What is the point of designing a remuneration that reaches less than 1/3 of the total professors? Similarly, all administrative and support staff were excluded.

Fapuv further criticized the Patria system and the bonus policy, deeming them illegal and disastrous in their execution. The union rejected the notion that these bonuses should substitute for regular salaries. "Without salaries, the constitution, laws, and collective agreements are violated, and university staff are condemned to poverty," Fapuv stated in a release.

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The solution to this is to replace the bonuses, whatever their denomination, with salary remunerations. Without salaries, the constitution, laws, and collective agreements are violated, and university staff are condemned to poverty.