The Daily Journal.— Venezuela’s national teachers’ federations and their affiliated unions are carrying out a 12-hour nationwide work stoppage this Wednesday, June 10, 2026. The protest, held under the slogan “Worker, protest: stay home,” runs from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. nationwide in response to wage collapse and the stagnation of the Third Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The country’s main labor organizations support the teachers’ general strike, including the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, the Federation of Education Workers of Venezuela, the National Federation of Teaching Professionals – Venezuelan Teachers’ Association, the Federation of Venezuelan Educators and the Federation of Unionized Education Workers of Venezuela.
The Federation of Teachers’ Workers, the Federation of Unions of Education Graduates of Venezuela – College of Education Graduates of Venezuela, and the National Federation of Education Workers of Venezuela also joined the call.
Union leaders urged educators to join the protest without fear of economic reprisals from the Ministry of Education.
“You have nothing to lose. They may deduct one workday from your pay. Donate one day’s salary to the government, which amounts to $2.30; divided by 30 days, that equals $0.076,” the federation presidents said in a joint statement, highlighting the sector’s loss of purchasing power.
Unions Denounce Workplace Harassment and More Than 50,000 Suspended Teachers
The inter-union command denounced the education authorities for using mechanisms outside the law to “suspend, harass and intimidate workers.” According to the document issued by the teachers’ unions, restructuring policies have removed more than 50,000 educators from the state payroll, affecting even staff members with critical illnesses, such as cancer, teachers with disabilities and women on prenatal and postnatal leave.
Teachers emphasized that these measures violate the current “double labor immobility” protections and accused the government of stripping the sector of the 280% in wage increases established in previous contracts, while systematically reducing contractual benefits since March 2022.
“How can this situation occur in a rule-of-law state, whose laws should protect workers from the employer’s indignity? (…) The employer only cared about the vast resources it would save,” the teachers’ union questioned.
They also criticized the complete paralysis of negotiations for the Third Collective Bargaining Agreement after only 17 clauses gained approval. At the same time, 49 economic provisions remained shelved indefinitely: “The employer walked away from the table and left us alone.”
Demand for Resignation and Venezuela’s Case Before the ILO
Wednesday’s protest forms part of a cycle of union actions within a declared “Educational Emergency,” which began on June 1. The agenda included informational assemblies with parents and representatives, as well as the submission of union complaints to delegates of the International Labor Organization (ILO), who recently evaluated in Geneva the case of the “disappearance of the minimum wage in Venezuela.”
Beyond wage demands, teachers’ unions unanimously demand the resignation of Education Minister Héctor Rodríguez, whom they accuse of destroying the national education system while simultaneously holding multiple positions in the public administration.
