The teachers did not take advantage of Jakštas’ offer – Delphi
“Not a single teacher came on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday,” G. Jakštas confirmed to Elta.
“Every day we meet with teachers on the field, where we hear problems that are not related to the requirements. There is no mass of pedagogues, so apparently there is no need to talk personally,” the minister thought.
G. Jakšto’s meeting planned for Sunday with the teachers marching towards the Government will also not take place.
“It’s good that we didn’t leave, because we found out that teachers don’t go in the direction of Rūdiškii in the Trakai district. There are also no people going in other directions. They only go where the heads of trade unions go – from Zarasai and Klaipėda,” explained G. Jakštas.
According to the minister, the answer of the trade union leaders is currently awaited, when it will be possible to continue the negotiations.
“We offered to cooperate and talk in various forms.
On Thursday, we sent proposals to the management of the trade union, an invitation to continue negotiations, but we have not yet received any reaction. We are ready to meet, to continue the conversation,” he emphasized.
ELTA reminds that if there is no agreement on the faster increase of teachers’ salaries, Trade union of Lithuanian education workers (LŠDPS) announced at the end of August that it was going on strike. September 15 unionized teachers have already participated in a warning strike.
A month-long teachers’ strike organized by the Lithuanian Education Workers’ Union (LŠDPS) began on Friday due to a disagreement over a faster increase in teachers’ salaries. 186 educational institutions and about 3 thousand teachers started the strike. The largest number of educational institutions are on strike in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Alytus.
On Friday, the striking teachers and their supporting students started a march from their educational institutions all the way to the Government House. Since Friday, Vincos Kudirka Square has been organizing various discussions, 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.
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 wage 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.