Teachers who came to the Government: we will strike as long as necessary

“As we sang, it’s a shame for the Government, because teaching should be, as it is intended, a prestigious profession,” Onutė Orlauskienė, the chairwoman of the trade union of the Vilnius nursery-kindergarten “Aušrelė”, told reporters.

According to her, pre-school teachers are demanding to reduce the number of children in classes and increase their salaries by 56 percent.

“Our demands are the same as those of other teachers – to reduce the number of children. The second is finances, salaries,” said teacher O. Orlauskienė.

Kindergarten teachers say they will strike as long as necessary. “Our entire team, we are 15 people – we will strike as long as necessary”, emphasized O. Orlauskienė.

On Friday, the real teachers’ strike, which will last for a month, began. 186 educational institutions and about 3 thousand teachers will go on strike. The largest number of educational institutions are on strike in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Alytus.

According to the National Education Agency (NŠA), 1.9 thousand teachers are currently participating in the strike. employees and 100 educational institutions.

Out of almost 2 thousand strikers – 1.7 thousand. there are pedagogical workers, including 1,675 teachers.

On Friday, the striking teachers and their supporting students started a march from their educational institutions all the way to the Government House.

According to Andrias Navickas, the chairman of the education workers’ union, various discussions have been organized in Vincos Kudirka Square since Friday, as well as classes to support teachers for visiting students.

According to the permit issued by the Vilnius City Municipality, rallies near the Government House can be held every day from September 29. until October 28, they can be attended by up to 2,000 people.

As the number of striking teachers in Vincos Kudirka Square increases, Jurgita Kiškienė, chairperson of the Vilnius City Association of the Lithuanian Education Workers’ Trade Union (LŠDPS), says that pedagogues have gathered to fight for the future of schoolchildren.

“We came to fight for the future of children, we came to fight for our students. Because soon there will be no more teachers, we will disappear like dinosaurs”, J. Kiškienė told journalists.

According to her, teachers belonging to other unions have already joined the striking union of education workers.

“We are happy that schools from another trade union have already joined, realizing that they are being manipulated. We invited – come, join us, get involved,” said the English teacher.

J. Kiškienė calls the agreement reached by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM) and four trade unions of teachers a lie.

“What happened yesterday was a sad, pathetic lie. They say on television that there were negotiations. But the exam took place, I came with the answers ready. The feeling is that they are lying again, manipulating us again, dividing us – some are better than others”, said the chairman of the Vilnius City Unification of the LŠDPS.

About 150 striking teachers gathered at Vincas Kudirka Square in Vilnius at noon.

At the end of August, the Lithuanian Education and Science Professional Union (LŠMPS) also announced that they were considering going on strike. Its chairman, Egidijus Milešinas, informed that he would consider calling a strike if it was not possible to reach an agreement with the ministry on the raised demands.

However, on Thursday, an agreement was reached between the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM) and the four trade unions uniting teachers regarding the increase of teachers’ salaries, reduction of classes and further solutions to improve working conditions.

It has been agreed with the trade unions that teachers’ salaries will increase by 10% from January next year, and by at least 10% from September. In addition, 3 percent will continue to be allocated to the salary of general education teachers working according to the updated programs. education funds, as now since the beginning of the school year.

It is planned to conduct an analysis of the application of the provision for primary education teachers to form a full-time position when they work 700 or more contact hours and to submit proposals for improving the structure of teachers’ workload or related legislation.

From the next academic year, it was agreed to consolidate the right of the school owner (in many cases – the municipality) to the maximum number of students in grades 5-12. reduce from 30 to 26 students, and 1-4 kl. – from 24 to 22 students.

The renewal of the collective agreement of the Lithuanian branch of education and science was agreed with the Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union, the Education and Science Trade Union “Solidarumas”, the Association of Lithuanian Higher Education Trade Unions, the Lithuanian trade union “Sandrauga”.

Jonas Trumpa, the president of the Lithuanian School Students’ Union (LMS), who came to the teachers’ rally in Vincos Kudirka Square, says that the students support the striking pedagogues because they are worried about the future of education.

“The average age of teachers is 52, which is almost 8 percent. teachers are of retirement age. Looking at how many people are currently studying pedagogy, there are too few of them to meet the needs of the market in the 10-year perspective,” said Mr. Trumpa, who participated in the rally on Friday, in Eltai.

“We think that our teachers are going to die and we don’t know who will be teaching in 10 years, and that worries me,” he emphasized.

J. Trumpa emphasized once again that the students support two demands raised by the striking teachers – to increase the salaries of teachers and to reduce the number of students in classes. According to him, if these requirements are met, more school leavers will want to become teachers.

“As students, it is our moral duty to contribute, support and stand up for teachers. Because teachers fight for the well-being of us, students. We directly benefit from it”, noted the president of LMS.

The trade union of education workers led by A. Navickos demanded to raise teachers’ salaries by 20 percent this year. They are also asking for an additional 30% salary increase from January next year. In this case, the total salary growth would reach 56 percent.

The proposal presented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in September to raise teachers’ wages by 21 percent next year, with a 10 percent salary increase from January, did not satisfy the education workers’ union. According to A. Navicki, teachers’ salaries should be raised significantly more.

In addition to salary increases, LŠDPS has also expressed the need to reduce the number of students in classes and the workload of teachers.

The latest data released by the National Education Agency (NŠA) show that currently over 2.4 thousand teachers are participating in the strike. employees and 131 educational institutions.

2,248 participants in the strike are pedagogical workers, including 2,009 teachers.

According to NŠA, the majority of teachers are on strike in Klaipėda, Vilnius, Kaišiadorių district, Panevėžys and Alytus.