Montevideo, August 26 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez led the celebrations of the 190th anniversary of National Independence on Tuesday, while the education sector has called for strikes all week.

The main celebration took place in the central department of Florida, while in Montevideo federal authorities tried to find solutions with union leaders over the teachers' demands.

The mobilization followed the executive order issued on Monday night compelling public education services to resume immediately in Primary and Secondary schools and in the University of Work of Uruguay (UTU) after a week-long shut down due to the strikes. The decree defined education as an “essential” service, justifying the measure of exception starting on Wednesday.

When the measure was implemented, Ministry of Education and Culture Maria Julia Muñoz stated: “It is the duty of the Executive and of the Ministry of Education to guarantee assistance in class of all children and teenagers.”  She also admitted that the government was making the decision “with great pain.”

Union leaders responded by saying they will introduce a complaint before the judicial authorities of the country and before the International Labor Organization, considering the measure as a severe punishment of education unions.

A few days before, some of them had decided to refuse the last pay raise offered by the government (about US$865 monthly – whereas secondary teachers demand a minimum of US$1,040 monthly). They also demanded that Vazquez fulfill his electoral promise of allocating 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product to public education.

The strikes affect about 350,000 children enlisted in primary public schools, and almost 30,000 teenagers in secondary public schools – for a total population of 3.3 million.

The strikes coincide with the parliamentary debates over the budget for the next five years, involving adjustments in the wages of state officials. Vazquez, from the progressive Broad Front, formally took power on March 1st, at a moment of an economic slow-down, while unemployment increased up to 7.4 percent in June, according to the official estimate.