Five years ago, striking teachers occupied parts of the Education Ministry building and stayed there for several weeks. With the start of the new school year fast approaching, the teachers are again looking at industrial action to address staffing issues and low wages.
Minister of Education, Gintautas Jakštas is trying to pre-empt a fresh strike by inviting the head of the Education Workers' Trade Union, Andrius Navickas, to meet with the ministry and present proposals on how to improve teachers' working conditions.
The teachers are demanding answers on when and how the number of pupils in classrooms will be reduced, how the workload of teachers will be regulated, and whether and to what extent salaries could be increased. The education union says that agreements to avoid a strike must be reached within a month and must be long-term.
Another union, the Education and Science Trade Union, will decide in September whether to join the strike. The union, which brings together 12,000 people, says low salaries are the main issue.
"Next year, the average salary of teachers should be 130 per cent of the national average, otherwise there is certainly a chance that we will also protest. Maybe we will strike," says Egidijus Milešinas, chairman of the Education and Science Trade Union.
He says that problems such as reducing the number of children in classrooms can also be solved by municipalities.
"But they do not have the political will and the ministry does not encourage it," Milešinas adds.
The Education Workers' Union announces that a warning strike by teachers will take place on September 15. Navickas, the union's chairperson, stresses that if the desired results are not obtained, a full strike will be organised at the end of September.
Lithuania has seen a sharp increase in unfilled staffing positions, with some municipalities reporting shortages of several hundred teachers. Meanwhile, professionals complain of low wages and being overworked.
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