Teachers set to strike in Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
07.04.2019 23:30
Polish teachers were set to launch a nationwide strike over pay on Monday after two unions rejected a government offer aiming to end a long-running dispute.
Deputy PM Beata Szydło.
Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Last-ditch talks on Sunday evening headed by Deputy Prime Minister Beata Szydło saw the Solidarity trade union agreeing to government proposals. But the offer was deemed insufficient by two other unions pressing for a 30 percent pay hike.
Szydło said the government was prepared to continue talks if unions asked for such a move.
Teachers have threatened to start a nationwide protest of unlimited duration on Monday, just before key exams at various levels of education.
The government has insisted that the exams will take place regardless of whether industrial action breaks out, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
A strike would leave working parents across the country facing problems in arranging childcare.
The Rzeczpospolita daily last week quoted a survey according to which more than six in 10 Poles were against teachers striking at a time of important school exams.
(pk/gs)
Source: PAP/IAR