The Lithuanian Education Workers’ Trade Union (LŠDPS) is resuming the teachers’ strike on Wednesday and organising a rally at the Seimas.
Andrius Navickas, the chair of the union, says that more than 3,000 teachers and more than 200 educational institutions are planning to take part in the strike.
According to him, this strike is expected to be bigger than the previous one a month ago but does not predict how long it will last.
The LŠDPS and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport are at odds over teachers’ pay, workload, and reducing the number of pupils in classrooms, which led to a strike in late September, which was temporarily suspended in mid-October.
In next year’s budget, the government is proposing to increase teachers’ pay in two stages: by 10 percent from January and again from September, bringing the average teacher’s salary up to 130 percent of the national average wage.
The LŠDPS, however, wants the teachers’ salaries to be increased twice next year by 15 percent each time. According to the ministry, there are no financial possibilities in the state budget to meet this requirement.
Four other education unions signed a collective agreement with the Education, Science and Sport Ministry last month.
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