After a new round of negotiations, this time with the Minister of Labor and the Minister of Education, the trade unionists in Education bluntly announce: there is no reason to abandon the strike or the large protest on Tuesday. The teachers are still asking for salary increases which the Government does not seem to want to accept.
Amid threat that teachers’ strike might overturn the National Assessment and the Baccalaureate national exams, the union leaders asked the president Klaus Iohannis to intervene.
FSLI leader Simion Hăncescu stated that the unions requested what they requested on the list of demands, namely finding solutions to grant a salary increase, until the end of the year and the most important thing, to guarantee them, through a normative act, that in the salary law the debuting teacher will have a salary at least equal to the average salary in the economy. “As an option for increasing wages until the end of the year, I proposed to apply article 12 of law 153, more specifically, that ranking coefficient 1 be multiplied by 3,000 lei, which is the minimum wage in the economy, and not by 2,500, as it is now “, Hăncescu also said.
He stated that “it remains for the Minister of Labor to present this proposal to the Prime Minister and those in the coalition and to analyze it”. “For now, we don’t have anything concrete, we are waiting for a signal from the Government as soon as possible”, the FSLI leader said.
In his turn, another trade union leader, Marius Nistor said that “when the Executive sincerely wants an end to this labor conflict, it is clear that the three presidents of the three parties that form the coalition must make a decision”. “The decision is strictly related to the two proposals that were advanced by the trade union federations. We don’t want this conflict to continue, we want everyone to return to the classrooms as soon as possible, but everything strictly depends on how quickly the coalition will make a decision. We expect that after the discussions held today at the Ministry of Labour, the messages sent by the Minister of Labor and the Minister of Education, to the coalition, will be perceived as such and the solutions will come very quickly”, stated Nistor.
The leader of the Federation of Education Trade Unions also said that Tuesday’s protest is being held, and at the moment there is no reason that would make them give up on it. He announced that he additionally requested a meeting with President Klaus Iohannis, because it is his obligation to mediate this conflict in Education.
Moreover, FSLI, the “Spiru Haret” Federation and the “Alma Mater” Federation want to meet with President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday. The three trade union federations submitted a document in this regard to the Presidential Administration and state that they requested such a meeting as early as May 10.
FSLI, the “Spiru Haret” Federation and the “Alma Mater” Federation urge the head of state to exercise his role as “mediator between the state and society in order to obtain from the Executive real and immediate solutions for the education system”, conveying to Klaus Iohannis that , until this moment, the Government’s offer does not respond to any of the protesters’ demands. The document was registered at the Presidential Administration.
“We are asking you to meet with the Executive Offices of the three representative federations in education, on May 30, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. We appeal – once again – to Your Majesty, as a mediator between the state and society, to obtain real and immediate solutions for the education system from the Executive. Your Excellency, in order to have an EDUCATED ROMANIA, massive investments in education and a motivated human resource are needed”, states the document made public on Monday by FSLI, the “Spiru Haret” Federation and the “Alma Mater” Federation.
The claims submitted by the teachers’ representatives refer to the increase in the salary of the education staff; salaries equivalent to the average salary in the economy for beginning teaching staff; progressive salary, depending on studies, seniority and teaching degree for teachers; annual indexation, depending on the inflation rate, of staff salaries paid from public funds; payment of overtime; granting increments for working conditions to education personnel; the granting of rights such as commuting settlement, installation allowance, additional vacation leave, monetary compensation for unused vacation leave; the annual increase in investments in education to improve the material base and infrastructure in this field.
“Unfortunately, until this moment, the Government’s offer does not respond to any of these demands”, the trade unions also write to President Klaus Iohannis, reminding him that Monday is the sixth day of a general strike in the education system, and the “legitimate demands” of the strikers received “a totally unsatisfactory response” from the Government.
“Your Excellency, in order to have an Educated Romania, massive investments in education and a motivated human resource are needed“, say the trade unionists at the end of the request.