Teachers start salary negotiations with 10 percent pay raise proposal
Teachers' salary negotiations start on Tuesday, but the Minister of Education has already said it will not be able to agree to the teaching union's proposed 10 percent raise.
Education workers are expecting their salaries to rise this year as a teacher's average wage has fallen below the national average. There were no pay rises this year.
"The national average has gone up 14 percent over two years, for teachers only four percent," said Reemo Voltri, head of the Education Workers' Union.
"Of course we want to see how we can finally reach what's been talked about and promised for years, that teachers' salaries must start at the national average. That would require a 10 to 11 percent increase over the next two years."
Last week, Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) said she hopes to reach an agreement with teachers for the next two years.
"Teachers' salaries really must go up next year; we cannot continue with zero growth. Teachers' wages are falling behind the national average, and we have to find the funds, even though the state budget is very tight and defense spending is absorbing a large share of potential additional revenue. But we truly have to deal with this — we have to find the money," she acknowledged.
Kallas said meeting the 10 percent salary increase teachers are asking for would require €77 million from the state budget. The money is unlikely to materialize.
"I would not be so optimistic that we can manage such a large raise. But our aim has been to reach a two-year agreement in advance on wage increases, not just year by year. We should start practicing this in Estonia, so that we have collective agreements that give teachers salary security for more than just one year," the minister, a former academic, said.
Voltri says teachers are also ready to strike.
"Teachers are well aware of the security situation, and that is why we did not organize major protests over the lack of a raise this year. But this situation cannot continue. We have to consider that the country needs to be defended, but at the same time, we must be able to continue providing quality education in Estonia. That is seriously at risk if we keep sending the message that this is not a profession worth pursuing because it does not pay," he said.
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Helen Wright
