For the second time this school year, teachers in Slovakia began to strike for better working conditions and higher salaries. Schools were closed in the process.
For the second time this school year, the teachers began to strike. Starting Monday from 6.00 am involving about 80 percent of staff in all schools across the whole country supported by kindergardens as well. Noone can say today when the strike is over. Teachers choose yellow as a color of the november strike.
Teachers expect most schools to be closed for three days but it can be more.
On Friday, Finance Minister Peter Kažimír (Smer) said that Unions can not come out to meet with a better offer to increase wages next year then by five percent. The government would increase salaries of teachers and non-teaching school staff, said prime minister Robert Fico, but only in exchange for dismissal. Prime Minister considers it strange that people want to strike for higher salaries, "when they know in what trouble we are and in what trouble is the whole Europe." This comes right after government approved salary raise for judges.
The government has in his legitimate right to tell teachers that their salaries will not increase at all, even though they offered 5% increase. Said prime minister as well.
However, teachers continue to require ten percent tariff increase in salaries next year. At the present average salaries of teacher is 500 Euro. The September strike was bypassed without protest, on the contrary, today, desperate and disgusted school staff come out to the streets in Bratislava, Košice and Banská Bystrica.
Schools remain closed.







































































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