Trade unions say raise in teachers’ pay is paltry

The trade unions say the 25% rise in teachers’ pay is insignificant compared with the real expenses and prices of the basic necessities, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The fact that the IMF ‘allowed’ increasing the salaries and allowances gladdens us, but the rise is paltry compared with the prices of the goods and services,” said the head of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova Oleg Budza. Earlier, the Confederation demanded that the minimum salary for budget-paid employees be raised in two stages – from 600 to 900 lei on January 1, 2011 and up to the minimum subsistence level on September 1, 2011. The Confederation says the pensions should be also raised. Currently, over 90% of the pensioners receive pensions of less than 900 lei, while the minimum subsistence level is 1,305 lei on average, up 20.2% compared with the corresponding period of 2009. The IMF mission agreed to increasing teachers’ salaries by 25% in two stages. On April 1, the families in need will receive compensations of about 390 lei for every month of the 2010-2011 heating season. On October 1, 2011, the pays in the public services sector will be raised by 12%, while on July 1, 2011 the pensions for the persons who worked in the budgetary sector will be increased by 8.5%.