On Wednesday, Approximately 15 thousand of teachers, scientists, researchers and other education system workers from across all Slovakia gathered in Bratislava to voice their demands for better working conditions and increased salaries, which they want to be raised by ten percent as of July. Besides that, the protesters claimed that all schools and educational establishments are threatened with financial collapse.
Gathered in front of Parliament, the crowd of Slovak education workers on Wednesday afternoon chanted slogans such as "We won't be silent", "Shame!" and "We want higher salaries". However, the government has a problem reaching an agreement on how to meet their demands.
School trade unions are calling for a ten-percent increase in teachers' salaries as of July. Finance minister Igor Matovič proposes rising their salaries through tax increases of big companies, gambling or alcohol. However, the coalition Freedom and Solidarity party is against and vetoed this proposal. According to Education Minister Branislav Groehling, who is from Freedom and Solidarity, they insist that these funds are ensured by full-collection of current taxes.
Following Wednesday's protest, Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) stated that he regrets to see the talks on increasing teachers' salaries to be stuck because of "two coalition partners”. Kollar claimed that he would do his utmost to get them to compromise, noting that the coalition has promised increased salaries to education sector workers, but the measure has never become reality.
A 3-percent hike in the salaries of education system workers as of July 1 has been financially secured, Education Minister Branislav Groehling (SaS) claimed on Wednesday, adding that there are ongoing talks on increasing the raise further.
"If we don't achieve our goals now, it's possible that we will hold further strikes in September. We've drawn up a script known only to us so far," claimed head of the Slovak Education Sector Employees Trade Union Pavol Ondek on Wednesday.
Source: RTVS, TASR
