BRATISLAVA, October 15, (WEBNOVINY) — Teachers and education workers will start an unlimited strike next month. After previous fruitless negotiations with the government on higher salaries, the Council of the Trade Union of Workers in Education and Science in Slovakia declared a strike of employees of the education sector starting November 26, at 6:00 a.m. President of the Trade Union Pavel Ondek informed about the decision at a press conference on Monday. The strike should involve some 150,000 teachers and other educational staff across Slovakia. Although the starting date for the strike has been established, the trade union has not determined its exact end. Ondek not rule out that if the demands were not met, the strike could last for several days.
The trade union did not accept the government’s offer of a five percent increase of teachers‘ salaries and continues to demand salaries increased by ten percent as of next year. The trade union demands that gradually teachers’ salaries increase in the coming years to 1.2 to 1.6 times the average wage in the national economy. The trade union expects from a government to finally begin addressing in a systemic way the long-term critical situation in financing and salaries in the education sector.
By their strike, the trade union wants to remind the government, parliament, and the public of the unsustainability of the current state of education with its permanent crisis in rewarding its employees. The trade union also requires increasing in the share spending on education to six percent of GDP over the next few years. The strike begins on November 26, when parliament is due to start debating the draft state budget for next year. Union members want use the time until the strike starts for further negotiations with the government, parliamentarians, and the president. Ondek did not rule out that if their demands are met, they would call off the strike.
SITA