European Trade Union Committee for Education

On 1 June 2016, when thousands of teachers will gather in the streets of Bucharest for a massive rally through town, they will demonstrate that there is enormous dissatisfaction with the current salaries and the unjustified wage differentials in the public sector. All three Romanian ETUCE member organisations,  namely the Free Trade Union Federation in Education (FSLE), the National Federation "Alma Mater" and the Federation of Unions in Education "Spiru Haret", have been participating in several days of action. Since Wednesday, about 100.000 teachers and 500.000 students have been protesting during the big break in the school yards to the ongoing sound of the school bells. With this action they have intended to protest together against the low remuneration of teachers.

This week, the education trade unions participated in another round of negotiations at the Labour Ministry. "The government agreed to a 10% wage increase as of 1 August 2017. We have accepted an increase less than the 25% health sector has received. However, this would have to be applied from 1 August 2016 or on 1 January 2017 at the latest. It has been left to the government to make further calculations. We might meet on Thursday again, " explains FSLI President Simon Hăncescu. "It is for the the first time that students, teachers and parents join in a nationwide protest. We'll be together for the better of the education sector. On 1 June we will all join in a protest rally in Bucharest. We expect about 15.000 teachers from all over the country to participate."

The protests might extend massively. According to FSLI, teachers might boycott the upcoming exams if further negotiations between the unions and the Government on the teachers’ salaries will fail. Furthermore, some teachers are apparently considering to boycott the local elections on 5 June. Traditionally, teachers make the majority of the election commissions.

ETUCE sent a solidarity letter to all three member Romanian organisations to express its full solidarity for the current country wide protest actions and next week’s rally in Bucharest.  ETUCE European Director Martin Rømer addresses to the three affiliates and their members: ”This is a good time for you to demand an increase of the teachers’ salaries. It is clearly an economic and social misjudgment in the current situation to almost undermine the education system, to jeopardize and weaken essentially our sector which was identified as one of the key sectors to lead Europe out of the economic crisis. It is only fair that you raise your voice for an increase of the teachers’ wages which has apparently not happened for a long time and led to such unjustified and unacceptable differences between the different public sectors.” He keeps reminding that “the demand for a fair pay it is also about the recognition of the daily contributions and the high performance of teachers!”

ETUCE hopes now for a soon stop to this worrying development and instead for an immediate start of an open and constructive dialogue involving the social partners on a regular basis on this very key issue but in the future also on other issues of joint concern.