Teachers at individual schools will decide how long a forthcoming strike by teachers and school employees will last after its expected start date on November 26 (Monday), teachers' trade union leader Pavel Ondek said at a press conference on Wednesday, November 21.
"After three or four days, some employees may say that they can't be on strike any longer, because it dips into their pockets and if such a situation emerges, the central [strike] committee may decide about interruption or termination of the strike. This will depend on the situation at individual schools," said Ondek, adding that employees will also hold protests in Bratislava, Banská Bystrica and Košice at 10:00 on Monday. The TASR newswire quoted chairman of the Self-governing School Association, Alena Petáková, as saying that another alternative is to re-open schools without actually teaching students.
The trade unions still can’t say exactly how many teachers are going to take part in the action, or how many schools will be affected. According to Ondek, the participation of elementary schools should be around 80 percent. Even though the trade union has certain reserves, there is not enough money to compensate teachers for their loss of earnings on strike days. The strike may still be called off if the trade union succeeds in negotiations scheduled with government officials for Thursday or Friday. Teachers want their salaries to be raised by 10 percent, while the Finance Ministry is offering them a 5-percent pay rise.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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