Teachers' union not ruling out new strike over pay dispute
The labor dispute between the Estonian Education Workers' Union (EHL) and the Ministry of Education and Research over teachers' salaries ended on Friday with no agreement reached. As a result, the EHL once again has the right to organize a strike. Teachers are expecting a 20 percent pay rise starting from January 2026.
"Teachers are increasingly dissatisfied with their salaries and frustrated that their pay is no longer rising," said EHL chair Reemo Voltri.
"We discussed our readiness to strike at the council meeting on Monday and decided that we are prepared to use all legal measures to achieve better working and salary conditions. This means that nothing has been ruled out. Not even a new strike," Voltri added.
The EHL turned to the national conciliator in April this year as teachers are dissatisfied with their monthly salary of €1,820, which has remained unchanged since the end of the strike in 2024.
"We made a statement to the national conciliator with the request that the minimum wage for teachers be raised to roughly the same level as the average wage in Estonia, or nearly €2,050, starting September 1 this year. We were also prepared to compromise and lowered our demand to €2,000," Voltri said. However, as the ministry ruled out any salary increase for the coming academic year, the conciliation meeting ended last Friday with a protocol of disagreement.
"It is important that if the next negotiations concerning teachers' pay rises in 2026 and 2027 also fail, we now have the option of organizing a strike," said Voltri, referring to last year's agreement with the Ministry of Education to end the strike, which states, among other things, that by 2027, the minimum wage for teachers will rise to at least 120 percent of the national average wage.
"As we have been moving further and further away from this goal at the current pace, we now expect teachers' salaries to increase by 20 percent from January 2026." That would bring teachers' salaries in line with the projected average salary in Estonia.
The government set the minimum salary for teachers at €1,803 per month for 2024, with the variable part of the salary rising from 17 percent to 20 percent. This made the estimated average monthly salary for teachers in 2024 €2,164. Teachers did not accept that offer and announced an indefinite strike starting on January 22. The strike lasted for weeks, with teachers eventually agreeing to a smaller salary increase than they had originally proposed.
Kallas: Minimum wage of €2,050 is high, but achievable
Minister of Education Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) said the amount teachers' salaries could increase depends on the economic forecast, which is due to be released next week, and the state budget negotiations.
"I can't give you a figure at the moment. The minimum wage of €2,050 is quite high, but it's not something I would say is definitely unachievable. The increase in teachers' salaries could be in the range of seven to ten percent. The same is probably true in other areas," Kallas said.
"It is important that we agree on this by 2027 and plan the corresponding amount in the state budget strategy for both 2026 and 2027," the minister added.
Kallas explained that a one percent increase in teachers' salaries would mean €7 million, and ten percent would mean €77 million. It is therefore an increasingly difficult issue when it comes to budget negotiations, Kallas said.
Education workers also want the salary increase to be included in the state budget strategy.
"Otherwise, it's just empty talk," Voltri said.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Michael Cole
