The new school year will begin with a wave of strikes. When teachers return to their schools after the holidays and discover that the government is not ready to meet their requests, the preparations for strikes will begin. Teachers are demanding a 50% pay rise, the retention of early retirement as well as other workers’ privileges. The strike will be organized by the Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP). Despite negotiations between union members and the government, they did not come to an agreement. During yesterday’s meeting it was established that the government will calculate teacher salaries one more time according to union members’ reservations about certified teachers’ salaries.
On Monday Deputy Education Minister Krystyna Szumilas proposed a pay rise next year of about PLN 586 gross monthly for trainee teachers, PLN 618 gross monthly for contract teachers, PLN 339 and PLN 290 gross monthly for certified teachers. The government will allot PLN 2.7 billion for pay rises. The Ministry of National Education (MEN) provides that teachers currently earn (together with bonuses) from PLN 1701 to PLN 3827 monthly. However, MEN still wants to increase the teaching load by four hours a week. Currently the teaching load amounts to 18 hours. According to the ZNP chairman Sławomir Broniarz, the increased teaching load will cause the dismissal of 100,000 teachers and pay rises would be taken from those ‘released’ positions. The government does not anticipate that all teachers will retain early retirement. Yesterday it was proposed that at least teachers working with difficult teenagers should have this privilege. The next meeting of union members and the government will take place on the 9th of July.
Rzeczpospolita
