Puerto Rico Teachers Association demands addressing teacher’s poverty

The Puerto Rico Teachers Association (AMPR) demanded that Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi take action to address the state of poverty suffered by retired teachers.

The president of the AMPR, Víctor Bonilla, stated that they presented a series of proposals with that objective, which include increasing the pensions of retirees and reestablishing the medication bonus and the employer contribution to the medical plan.

“After the restructuring of the public debt, the government continues to allude to the restoration of the financial solidity of the State and the projections of economic growth in the country, therefore we demand that our claim be heard,” he said, and demanded that funds be identified and allocated to correct the situation in which pensioned teachers live.

“Not making these changes now will imply greater repercussions in the future,” said Bonilla Sánchez, after the entity delivered two bills to the House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday afternoon to benefit retired teachers.

One of the measures is for the employer’s contribution to the health plan for retired teachers in order to establish the payment of a medication bonus. The other legislative proposal is to grant the payment of the Christmas bonus for retired teachers and beneficiaries of the Retirement System.

The initiative arose after a study that reveals that 33 percent of retired Puerto Rican teachers, mostly women, receive less than $500 a month from social security.

“There is room to consider other bonuses that compensate the loss of retirement benefits that has affected retirees during the past decade,”insisted the president of the Puerto Rico Teachers Association.