Rae, Estonia
All The 38 students of class 10B at Jüri school raise their hands when asked who among them supports the teachers' strike. Maths teacher Kersti Kaldmäe is the strike leader of his school, so it would be hard not to refer. It's Friday at 1:30 p.m. The lesson has ended, and Kaldmäe doesn't know when he will see the students next.
In Estonia, the teachers' strike is scheduled to start on Monday. More than a decade has passed since the last major strike in Estonia.
Jüri school math teacher Kersti Kaldmäe held the last lesson on Friday before the impending strike on Monday.
To the same at a time when Estonia has shone with its Pisa success, teachers have been having feverish salary negotiations. There was a warning strike in November.
In the Pisa results published in December, Estonian schoolchildren were once again among the best in the world in mathematics, science and reading. Only a few Southeast Asian countries or regions were ahead of Estonia.
In the Finnish media, Estonia's Pisa success has been praised more than in Estonia. For example Helsingin sanomat newspaper told about schoolchildren's learning optimism. The results painted a picture of self-directed students taught by exceptionally independent teachers.
At the same time, the dominant topics of conversation in Estonia were the shortage of teachers, the aging of the profession, overload and salary.
On the eve of the strike, the minimum salary requirement for teachers was 1,836 euros per month, which would mean a five percent increase to the current 1,749 euros.
Inflation and labor shortages have accelerated salary
increases in many fields and attracted young teachers to other fields. In Estonia, the minimum salary target for teachers is more than a thousand euros lower than the current minimum salary for teachers in Finland.
Math teacher Kersti Kaldmäe is the strike leader of her school in the strike scheduled to start on Monday.
A lesson after Kaldmäe stays in class to read e-mails. He is not only the strike leader of his school, but also the leader of the Harjumaa Education Workers Union. Kaldmäki's younger colleague, a science teacher, enters the class Kärt Kruuk.
The problem is not only the salary, but also the workload, says Kruuk.
Kruuk says that he compiles the teaching material for the high school physics elective himself.
“There is no textbook,” he says.
Kruuk has also prepared the material for another upper secondary school elective, “movement in nature”.
In the same situation are the teachers who teach English or Russian, which are optional subjects at Jüri high school, as the language of business.
The curriculum is usually renewed faster than the textbooks are completed, says Kruuk.
“We are recommended to use digital material in teaching. It takes time to prepare,” says Kruuk.
In addition, there will be, among other things, development discussions, characterizing students for psychology and class trips that preferably include an overnight stay, Kruuk lists.
Soon, Kaldmäki and Kruuk will also have to apply for a position again. Separation of elementary schools from upper secondary schools is in progress in Estonia.
Jüri school science teacher Kärt Kruuk (left) is going on strike for the first time. Mathematics teacher Kersti Kaldmää has already gone on strike for the third time. Teachers are an exceptionally organized trade union in Estonia.
Jüri's school has classes from the first of elementary school to the last of high school. The municipality of Rae belongs to the growth centers surrounding Tallinn.
Jurin the school is a giant school with more than a thousand students in the municipality of Rae. There are students from the first grade of elementary school to the last grade of high school. A new high school is under
construction next door.
In Estonia, more than six percent of GDP is invested in education, i.e. more than the average in the EU. According to critics, money has been “cast in concrete” at the expense of teachers' salaries. In different parts of the country, high schools with the most personal appearance have been completed as a result of architectural competitions.
The municipality of Rae belongs to the golden belt surrounding Tallinn. It attracts families with children. The municipality attracts teachers with an additional 140 euros to their monthly salary.
Still, 124 teachers out of 140 teachers are joining the strike at Jüri's school as well, although only about a third of them belong to a trade union.
I'm on strike therefore, Kruuk, a high school teacher with a master's degree in education, is ready to tell about his income, even though it is not customary to talk openly about salary in Estonia.
The basic salary of a teacher in Rae municipality is therefore higher than in poorer municipalities, a total of 1,889 euros.
Kruuk gets a hundred euro extra for acting as a class supervisor as well as for teaching electives. The gross salary for the main job at Jüri high school is a total of 2,089 euros per month.
The salary is slightly more than the average salary in Estonia, but less than in the municipality of Rae. Kruuk can reach the middle level of Rae municipality with additional works.
Kruuk also teaches biology at Kallavere e-high school in Maardu and health information at Lagedi school in Rae municipality. The gross salary for the hours is a total of around 800 euros.
The entire gross monthly salary is 2,889 euros per month. After taxes, you will have about 2,230 euros.
“The salary is not bad, but it comes from three places,” says Kruuk.
Working in many workplaces is not unusual in Estonia. Many teachers go to different schools, give private lessons or run clubs.
Expenses Kruuk is hard to judge, because he shares them with his spouse. The necessary monthly expenses quickly exceed the teacher's salary. A family with four children cannot survive on less than 2,500 euros.
The Kruuk family's biggest monthly expenses are:
Mortgage repayment: 800 euros.
Food: 600 euros.
Water and electricity: 200 euros.
Personal car leasing: 200 euros.
Petrol: 300 euros.
Kindergarten for twins: 250 euros.
Preschool for twins: 120 euros.
Hobbies for twins: 70 euros.
“Of course I could drive a cheaper car,” says Kruuk.
The twins' clothes cost several hundred euros a year. The family enjoys themselves at home and mainly enjoys domestic tourism. A couple of times a year, the family goes to a spa in Estonia. Last year they had an exceptional visit to the amusement park Legoland.
Teachers the trade union was still waiting for a compromise proposal from the Estonian government until Sunday. The teachers would be willing to give up this year's salary increase if the salary development for three years is recorded in the collective agreement.
The teachers' goal would be to receive at least 120 percent of Estonia's average salary after three years.
The pressure for wage increases is strong because Estonia has had strong inflation for two years. At the same time, the economy is in recession. The government tries to keep the state budget relatively balanced and has not promised money to teachers.
In December, the average salary in Estonia was 1,868 euros, but this year it is estimated to rise to 2,000 euros.
Estonia is not a union country. While in Finland about half of the working people are organized, in Estonia the number is only about six percent. Still, two-thirds of the population supports the teachers' strike, according to an online survey published by the market research institute Norstat on Thursday.
In the Russian-speaking city of northeastern Estonia, the majority of teachers are not on strike, but in Maardu, Tallinn's Russian-speaking neighbor, the teachers have signed up for a strike.
“We don't like to say this out loud, but some simply can't afford a strike,” says Kaldmäe.
The municipality of Rae has promised to negotiate after the strike about the possibility of paying the salary retroactively. Harjumaa's professional association, on the other hand, can compensate for the lost thanks to only 200 euros each.
There is no deadline for the teachers' strike, but many schools have announced a week's strike in advance. Many kindergartens plan to remain on a three-day support strike.
“To be honest, the teachers can't afford a month-long strike,” says Kruuk.
On Monday teachers Kruuk and Kaldmäe plan to go to Tallinn. The demonstration in front of the parliament building on Tallinn's Toompea hill starts at 10 o'clock.
Mathematics teacher Kersti Kaldmäe may meet her former student from Jüri school, Minister of Finance by Mart Võrklaev. What would you say to him?
“I would ask why you don't keep your promises.”
The 10B class students of Jüri upper secondary school, who support the teachers' strike, referred. Teacher Kersti Kaldmäe has also taught mathematics to the Minister of Finance of Estonia, from whom she is now asking for more salary.
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