About the protest meeting of teachers that the Estonian Educational Personnel Union (EEPU) will organize on October 25, 2011 in Tallinn, in front of the building of the Estonian Parliament

EEPU will organize a protest meeting on October 25, 2011 in Tallinn in Toompea, on the square in front of the building of the Estonian Parliament, Riigikogu, to support the claims for a salary raise from January 1st, 2012. Teachers from all over Estonia will participate at the meeting.

EEPU’s proposal to the Estonian Government was to raise the minimum levels of teachers’ salaries by at least 20% from January 1st, 2012, as the current national minimum levels are the same as they were in 2008. According to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act

there must be an agreement on the minimum level of teachers’ salaries for the next year and the negotiations are held between the Estonian Government, representatives of local authorities and representatives of teachers. In Estonia the funding for teachers’ salaries comes from the state budget and therefore the Estonian Government will plan the appropriate allocation in the draft of state budget bill. If there is no agreement, the government has the right to plan the allocation independently.

At the negotiations that were held on September 19, the Estonian Government said that they do not find it possible to raise the teachers’ salaries from January 1st, 2012, as it is more important to keep the state budget in balance and there were no additional allocations planned for teachers’ salaries in the draft budget bill that was presented to the Riigikogu. The average pay of teachers is below the average pay level in Estonia. The average gross pay for teachers is less than EUR 800 per month. The minimum pay for a young teacher who has graduated from the university with a master’s degree is only EUR 608 per month. The low salaries are the reason why less and less young specialists choose work in schools. However, there is a large public support in Estonia to raise the teachers’ salaries. Starting from September, the media has paid a lot of attention to the subject on TV, on the radio, in the newspapers etc. In the social media, on Facebook, thousands of signatures have been gathered to support teachers’ salary raise. EEPU publishes articles on that matter on regular bases etc. EEPU has also turned to the President of the Republic of Estonia as well as to every single delegate in the Riigikogu to explain the situation and to demand the salary raise.

On October 25, we will, once again, together with all participants at the protest meeting, present our demands to the Riigikogu and to the Estonian Government, to demand the allocation of the necessary funds to guarantee a salary raise for teachers in the state budget for the year 2012. If the necessary funds are not allocated (the sate budget bill will be passed in the Riigikogu in December), we will continue to fight for the salaries and organize protest actions and strikes, if necessary.

The aim of the letter is to keep You informed about the teachers’ fight for their salaries in Estonia.

Sven Rondik EEPU President