Some schools will remain closed on Monday, November 27, and their teachers will be on strike. The unions are asking the government for more money for education. According to the coalition, teachers are one of the few whose salaries will rise next year. What is the strike about?
Guest I’m asking Markéta Seidlová is the vice-president of the Czech-Moravian Trade Union of Education Workers.
The unions announced a day-long warning strike of elementary, secondary and kindergarten schools on Monday, November 27. And they have already announced that if schools are somehow involved in it, they will have to inform about it three days in advance, so that parents have time to prepare. “I don’t know if the strike will affect all schools, but it will certainly be most schools. We definitely have signals from kindergartens that they will support the strike,” Seidlová said this week.
The goal of the strike is to get more money for the education budget for next year. Minister Mikuláš Bek (STAN) wants to meet with union representatives again next week. At the same time, he promises to try to negotiate with the coalition leaders for an extra five billion kroner in the department’s budget.
For example, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) said that he respected the strike, but at the same time objected that the demands of the unions were unfair to other professional groups that do not have a guaranteed salary by law, such as teachers.
Will the threat of a strike be enough for the unions, or will the children really be at home on November 27? What support does the protest have so far? And are unions just about salaries?
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I am asking, Marie Bastlová
Podcast Marie Bastlova. Hard talk interviews with people who have influence, responsibility, information.
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