Schools that are members of the four representative trade unions of Serbian educators have been on a "zonal strike" since the beginning of the month. After the Government offered an 11 percent salary increase for all employees in education, which was appreciated by educators"unworthy offer", the main request is changing.
The spokeswoman of the Union of Educational Workers of Serbia (USPRS), Mirjana Gašić (RSE), tells "Vreme" that tomorrow, Wednesday, a new request will be submitted to the Government, and if it is rejected, a total work stoppage will follow.
"Our circular strike is ongoing, Vojvodina and Valjevo are on strike next week, West Serbia is on strike, and South and East are on strike on the fourth week. On the other hand, we have the Government's final offer for an 11 percent salary increase, and on the third hand, we have school principals who want to sit on two chairs ever since. "From the moment the government withdrew, repressions by the directors and calls for an end to the strike began," says Gašić.
New proposal of the trade union
When they saw that the Government had no intention of negotiating a salary increase, and wanted to talk about the Collective Agreement, the unions prepared changes to the collective agreement.
"In it, there is a change in the payment of our personal income." That is, it is defined so that at no moment can our earnings be lower than the national average", says Gašić.
If the Government accepts to negotiate about it, it will take several months, the Collective Agreement should be adopted at the beginning of March.
"Our solution is systemic. This enables the Government to prove that education is their first priority", says Gašić.
When it comes to changes to the Criminal Code, the Minister of Education Slavica Đukić Dejannović announced that the public discussion must be completed by the New Year.
At this moment, it is not known what will happen with the demands of educators on that topic.
