Even if they earlier announced that they will protest for four days, the teachers decided to suspend the protests after the first day given that negotiations will be held with the Government. In a news conference at IPN, chairman of the Education and Science Trade Unions Federation Dumitru Ivanov said that if trade unionists’ demands are not satisfied, the teachers will go on strike.
“The idea of protesting is good, but the law provides that the protests are stopped if we take part in negotiations. We do not have the right and do not want to challenge the law because we aim to obtain at least 70% of what we asked for. But the law must be respected by everyone,” stated Dumitru Ivanov.
According to the Federation’s chairman, new talks will take place this weekend. “We will meet once in 3-4 days, which is very often. They wanted to postpone the negotiations until next February, but we told them that we don’t agree,” said Dumitru Ivanov.
The Federation’s first deputy chairman Ion Bulat said the trade unionists hope the first demand – to raise the salary of nonteaching staff to the minimum subsistence level – will be satisfied this year.
Vadim Druta, scientific researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, stated that a scientific researcher who obtained the title of doctor gets a gross salary of only 2,100 lei. “These persons work for many years to obtain a title and to make the country famous abroad,” he said, noting that the salaries should be raised.
The trade unionists also said they will try to obtain what it is possible in the first round of negotiations with the Government. A new round will be held in three months.
According to the Government’s press service, the executive and education trade unions agreed to suspend the protests for the period of the negotiations. The authorities initiated a number of actions in order to modernize the education system and increase the incomes of the system’s employees. These reforms were planned beforehand and the necessary financial resources were earmarked in the state budget.
