RSS
Unions in education suspend general strike
The Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education and the Spiru Haret Federation of Trade Unions in Education have decided to suspend the general strike.
The decision is conditioned by the establishment, in the emergency ordinance to be approved in the Government meeting on Monday, of the principle according to which the basic salary of the debutant teacher/university assistant will be set at the level of the average gross salary in the economy used to substantiate the known state social insurance budget and which represent 23 pct of the maximum salary scale in the public system and the granting of the first salary increase installment (50 pct of the salary increase provided for by the new salary law) from January 1, 2024, it is mentioned in a joint press release of the two trade union federations.
The trade unionists warn that if the principles contained in the Emergency Ordinance are not applied in the text of the new salary law, the strike will be resumed.
On Sunday, draft emergency ordinances initiated by the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Investment and European Funds were made transparent.
The draft normative act put up for debate by the Ministry of Labour stipulates that, starting from 1 June 2023, the basic salaries of teaching staff and auxiliary teaching staff in pre-university education units and higher education institutions will be increased by 1,300 RON gross per position.
Moreover, the salaries of the auxiliary teaching staff in university libraries, as well as for the other categories of positions included in the annexes to the Framework Law no. 153/2017 on the salaries of staff paid from public funds, as amended and supplemented, and who are auxiliary teaching staff, according to the National Education Law 1/2011, as amended and supplemented, and who work in the national education system, are increased by the same amount.
As regards the salaries of non-teaching staff in pre-university education units and higher education institutions, they increase by 400 lei gross per position.
The draft initiated by MIPE provides for a bonus of 1,500 RON for teachers and 500 RON for non-teaching staff until 2027, on 5 October, which is International Education Day.
The general strike in education was launched on 22 May 2023.
Emergency Ordinance No. 57/12 June 2023 establishing some measures regarding the pay scale of the staff in the national state education system has been published on Monday in the Official Journal.
"We have decided, at the coalition level and in full consensus with the union leaders, that once we have the written response from them regarding the return to the classroom of all teachers, we shall adopt and keep our word, as we have done so far, by adopting the emergency ordinance with the elements of content as they were agreed with the unions. (...) In full dialogue with the unions, the teachers' representatives, the parents' representatives, the students' representatives, we considered it absolutely necessary to end this labour conflict and to ensure (...) a solution that allows us to conclude the school year, to unfold the National Assessment and, of course, to hold the Baccalaureate exam. As such, we will adopt the emergency ordinance, in fact there are two emergency ordinances, because one is aimed at ensuring salary increases from the state budget and, certainly, ensuring the necessary funds for professional training, money that will be on the European funding lines," Nicolae Ciuca said in the beginning of the Government meeting.