Minister says budget constraints limit pay hike for education workers

The minister told reporters that a 12 percent salary increase for educators starting January next year has been offered in the ongoing dialogue with representatives of education workers’ unions, led jointly with Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.

When asked about the lists that school principals were required to compile, which would include teachers who took part in the education workers’ strike on September 16, Djukic Dejanovic said that the Law on Strike is clearly defined and that it is the principals’ duty to record if someone doesn’t show up at work.

Major education workers’ unions have turned down the government’s offer of a 12 percent salary increase starting January and have called for a one-day strike on October 2, when schools will be closed and preschools will not accept children on that day.