European Trade Union Committee for Education

On 19 December 2016, ETUCE member organisations in Albania, the Trade Union Federation of Education and Science of Albania (FSASH) and Independent Trade Union of Education of Albania (SPASH-ITUEA), met at the negotiating table with the Albanian Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Lindita Nikolla. Prior to the meeting, the unions had jointly organised a  protest action in front of the Ministry of Education and Sports on 16 December 2016. The protest actions gathered hundreds of teachers and education personnel.

The Albanian education trade unions asked the Minister of Education and Sports:

• to reimburse teachers’ transport expenses (for teachers working far away from their residencies); the calculation is based on the distance between district centers and workplaces;
• to pay overtime/extra hours effected by teachers;
• to reimburse teachers for working during final and/or state matura examinations, as prescribed by the domestic legislation;
• to observe the provisions of Article 144.2 of the Albanian Labour Code and Article 10.11 of the Collective Agreement and to pay teachers the New Year bonus which is of 10,000 ALL (73,00 EUR).

Moreover, the education trade unions called on the Ministry to discuss the current situation in the field of social dialogue.

Nevrus Kaptelli, SPASH-ITUEA President, said: “The Ministry of Education and Sports has agreed on the first three demands. However, the implementation of the demands has not yet been carried out. No consensus concerning the New Year bonus has been reached yet. The New Year bonus for 2016 as in the past two  years has not been allocated yet. Negotiations are ongoing”.

SPASH-ITUEA reported positively that the Albanian Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Nikolla, agreed that the partnership with social partners and the social dialogue in districts needed to be strengthened.

Arjan Dyrmishi, FSASH Chairman, said: “It is important to strengthen social dialogue at district level between education personnels' representatives and Regional Education Directorates. We are now in contact with the responsible person in the Ministry to implement what we all agreed upon with the Minister during our last meeting and to hold separate consultations between our main leaders and heads of Regional Educational Directorates in the premises of the Ministry. This is a real positive development to discuss and improve the social dialogue at district level in the future”.

Education trade unions reported that the current Collective Agreement is in force until the end of May 2017. They expect the new Collective Agreement to be signed before the end of May 2017.