The joint education unions are calling for a national education strike in primary and secondary education on 5 October. “If we pay people in education poorly, the teacher shortages will only get bigger.”
Because of inflation, teachers are demanding more pay rises than the government is offering. The protest is organized by trade unions General Education Union (AOb), CNV and FNV, the General Association of School Leaders and the Federation of Education Trade Unions.
According to the unions, teachers in primary and secondary education are ‘fobbed off’ with a 5.2 percent wage increase. “That can’t be true, now that we see much higher percentages of purchasing power repair in other public sectors,” says chair Daniëlle Woestenberg of CNV Education.
Crisis
“We are striking because we have to make and keep the profession attractive,” said Thijs Roovers, daily director of the AOb. “Because there is a crisis going on. Pupils in primary education no longer receive the education they – sometimes very badly – need due to teacher shortages.”
The unions also staged protests for wage increases in May. Then they threatened a strike at the end of the current school year or at the beginning of the new year. According to Roovers, the fact that the strike is now on October 5 is a concession to children and teachers. “We want schools to start normally.”
The unions do not yet know exactly what the action day will look like and what will happen instead of teaching. They probably won’t hold a demonstration on the Malieveld in The Hague.
The associations for primary and secondary schools support the demand to raise salaries sharply because of inflation. The PO Council (primary education) and VO Council (secondary education) are asking the cabinet for money so that they can accommodate the teachers. They say they understand the actions.
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