Slovenia: Strike to preserve teaching profession
Published:
Today, on 14 February 2018, the Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (ESTUS), ETUCE member organisation in Slovenia, is staging a protest action.
As reported earlier, the education trade union demands the government to take concrete measures in order to, among others:
- improve the status of teachers;
- invest in professional development of teachers;
- ensure teachers receive adequate payment for their responsible and demanding work;
- increase investment in education.
According to ESTUS, following one round of negotiations early in January 2018, nothing significant nor break through has been achieved so far. Therefore, today, more than 20 thousands of dissatisfied education personnel are taking to the streets.
Christine Blower, ETUCE President, commented on the ground “Education is the foundation profession. Without teachers, beginning in the kindergarten and taking young people through to university and the world of work there can be no nurses, doctors, lawyers, administrators, engineers. There cannot be all the professions and workers on which a country depends and through whom it thrives”.
“Today, we are here because we oppose the undervaluing of education work and, thus, defend the right to quality public education, which is one of the key elements in the functioning of the state welfare. We do not want anything special for ourselves, no privileges, we demand just the equal pay for equal work”, stated ESTUS General Secretary Branimir Štrukelj.
ETUCE calls on the Slovenian government to listen to the voice of teachers and educators and begin meaningful negotiations with ESTUS in order to guarantee decent salaries and working conditions and respect for teachers’ daily hard work.