The cabinet must offer teachers, education support workers and school leaders a better salary, demand education unions on Thursday. The unions have set an ultimatum for this until June 16. If the cabinet does not agree with the wage demand, collective actions and strikes will follow after the summer holidays, the CNV Education trade union, the AOb, FNV Overheid and FvOv threaten.
The teachers are demanding another 12 percent more wages this year, the CNV union reports. This should make the profession more attractive and tackle the teacher shortage.
The unions are now structurally demanding more money, but also more appreciation. They ask for a ‘market wage’. ‘Education has been under great pressure for years. Despite the unbridled efforts of the teaching staff, the quality of our education is deteriorating more and more’, writes Daniëlle Woestenberg, chairman of CNV Education, in a press release on Thursday.
According to the General Education Union (AOb), the government is offering money for a wage increase of no more than 5 percent, lower than inflation. Salaries for primary and secondary school teachers were linked last year to close a pay gap.
Primary and secondary school teachers are already campaigning for a better salary on Thursday afternoon. At a protest meeting in The Hague, they hand over signatures to education minister Dennis Wiersma. In addition, there are events in Amsterdam, Groningen, Zwolle and Maastricht. Those meetings are deliberately at the end of the afternoon. During the day, students have final exams and lessons.
Strike four years ago
In 2019, teachers also went on strike. It was then agreed that an extra 460 million euros would go to education. Part of the money was a one-off, while schools receive another part annually. Teachers affiliated with PO in Actie were already outraged at the time. They felt cheated because most of the money came to schools once. The hope was that the new cabinet would come up with structurally more money.
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