European Trade Union Committee for Education

In Hungary, the public education system is going through a constant and radical change since 1989. On the one hand, this is due to reoccurring “world-changing” ideas of several governments aiming to enhance the quality of education, and on the other hand, due to international surveys (mostly PISA) that necessitate measures. At the same time, little time and energy are spent on the consolidation of teachers’ working conditions and the establishment of a social dialogue between the government and teachers’ representatives.

Working in a constantly changing environment is stressful in itself. However, in addition to educational tasks, teachers have a gigantic amount of administrative tasks, and the formal execution of these tasks is time and energy-consuming. In 2015, a new civil service career model was introduced, which in theory entails higher salaries, meaning that the salary of teachers would be raised to reach around 60-70% of the EU average. This could have meant a salary increase of almost 40% if it would not go hand in hand with an increase of the amount of tasks on the job: on average, a 20% increase of teaching hours and a 30% increase of working time in general.

At the same time, the new wage categories do not apply to technical staff at schools and non-teaching personnel in other educational institutions. One of the goals of the Teacher Trade Union of Hungary (SEH), which has not yet been achieved, is the wage increase for non-teaching staff in kindergartens and day-care centres and for administrative staff and assistants in educational institutions, since their salaries have been frozen since 2008. The level of their wages reaches only the national minimum wage (SMIG) and the government does not seem to have an intention to change this situation.

The Office of the Secretary of State for Education initiated a consultation with the Strike Committee to give the impression that the teacher trade unions are being taken seriously. Other trade union organisations that are not members of the Strike Committee were also invited. The debate is supposed to focus on the amendment of the legislation relating to the salaries of the categories listed above and the certification procedures for teachers who have only 7 years left until the retirement age. Teachers in this age group are entitled to a higher salary only if they went through the certification procedure even though the government has promised to cancel this requirement. SEH had to appeal to the Constitutional Court to ensure that the promises were respected.

According to SEH, despite initiating the consultation, the Hungarian government continues to avoid meetings with teachers’ representatives and does not want to reach an agreement with them. In November 2016, Piroska Galló, President of SEH, invited government representatives to the meeting of the SEH Presidium for a discussion on the changes proposed by the government in the field of vocational training. SEH also invited 70 colleagues from the regional trade unions so that they can address the issues important for them. However, the invited government representatives did not come to the meeting and sent an official to replace them.

The National Federation of Workers Councils' Teacher Branch (KPSZT) also noted the lack of social dialogue between the Hungarian government and the national trade unions. KPSZT had previously agreed on a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Education and Culture, however, this agreement has not been implemented. András Bardócz, Joint President of KPSZT, noted that there was no real dialogue between the Hungarian government and trade unions: “Today, the trade unions in Hungary are very fragmented; hence the representation of their interests is not efficient. The solution in this regard may lie in a closer cooperation between the trade unions”. KPSZT is doing some steps towards better cooperation with other trade unions and even with representatives from several neighbouring countries.