Education unions give up cooking protests and boycotting exams after protocol with minister

However, unions’ representatives say they are unhappy with the final outcome of talks with the minister Ecaterina Andronescu, but will refrain from protesting or further boycotting the national examinations or high school graduation tests.

What’s more, some unions claim they received no official confirmation on continuing the row of protests and calling a general strike and remain dissatisfied with the result of negotiations with the minister, a local leader of the FSLI union, Gheorghe Giurumescu said.

Another representative of unions, teacher Toma Banuta, mulls that teachers are more than ready for a strike, having the smallest wages possible, even below 1,000 lei. “Everybody is revolted the government is mocking us,” he said.

Yet, some of the parents disagree with the strike and teachers on the verge of retirement are undecided, he added.

Meeting the minister for two days in a row concluded in signing a protocol which will hopefully tackle and solve claims. Yet, a final decision on the general strike will be announced officially tomorrow after the joint meeting of the four biggest unions in education.

The document reads that both salaries and bonuses will remain unchanged and that no dismissals will take place and extra funds will be granted to the underpaid system at the next budget revision. The previous revision slashed funds.

The national tests that should have taken place today were rescheduled for May 7 and rest of the tests will be held according to schedule, on May 13 and 21.

Education unions and government representatives agreed to meet again on May 6 for further talks. The two parties negotiated today for six hours and at first union leaders announced they would call a strike for the next day, but they changed their mind. This generated chaos in countrywide schools, some students showing up for classes, others staying at home.

Unions in education are unhappy that the promised salary raises have been continuously put off in the past weeks. Last year, before the Parliament elections at the end of November, the outgoing lawmakers passed a law granting education staff a 50 percent raise. The president also approved it, but the former Liberal government rejected it. Now he admits it was a mistake.