The initiative of the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) to get the government step down in the event of failure to implement the strike agreement has received 10 017 votes on Manabalss.lv public initiatives platform in less than two days.
Authors of the initiative say that after looking through legislative acts it was discovered there is no accurate measure to dismiss officials in such situations.
“The initiative is intended to ensure clear responsibility from officials when they fail to implement strike agreements,” as explained in the application attached to the initiative.
LIZDA also stresses that the objective is to ensure responsibility from the government if the agreement is not implemented. The strike application lists certain demands. Institutions involved in resolution of collective disputes are informed of this.
LIZDA also points out that Latvia has a very high level of distrust towards politician and high-ranking officials, which is affirmed by the results of a survey by SKDS performed for 2023: “The trust of Latvia’s society towards officials is very low, and no significant improvements are observed. […] 28% of residents do not believe a single word spoken by officials. 40% are unlikely to believe (68% of unbelievers in total). Only 2% completely trust what officials and politicians say. 24% are likely to trust them (26% believes in total).”
On Tuesday, the 25th of April, Latvia’s PM Krišjānis Kariņš, after negotiations with LIZDA, announced that an agreement was reached on the allocation of additional funding of EUR 42. million.
He also said “the government is forced to review the budget and take money away from other sectors to avoid raising taxes”.
The head of LIZDA said the trade union will study the government’s proposal before making any decisions.
On the first day of the strike LIZDA head Inga Vanaga told the media “teachers are not ready to give up and, if necessary, will go to the end”. Vanaga also stressed multiple times that similarly to teachers performing their duties in accordance with the law, so too is the government expected to perform their duties.
The Ministry of Education and Science, meanwhile, claim that Vanaga’s statement about the wage increase of EUR 0.09 is untrue, and invited the media to report the ministry’s official explanation.
IZM explained that “this pitiful amount appears if you interpret the order from the Cabinet of Ministers in a manipulative manner.
The decision to increase the lowest monthly wage rate schedule for the period between the 1st of September 2023 and the 31st of December 2025 was made at the 18th of April government meeting”.
According to the government’s order, it is planned to raise wages for teachers whose hourly rate is currently at EUR 7.5. From the 1st of September onward the hourly rate will increase by 13.3%, reaching EUR 8.5. In the three-year period of time all teacher group’s lowest hourly rates will increase and reach EUR 10.35 by the year 2025.
“If the amount provided by the government to improve the situation of the lowest-paid teachers is calculated for the total number of Latvian teachers, it amounts to a EUR 0.09 per teachers.
These estimates are misleading and do not reflect the actual increase of the lowest wages. This way the goals intended to be achieved with the government’s schedule are distorted,” as mentioned in the ministry’s statement.
It should be added that many in Latvia sharply criticise the teachers’ chosen approach “to resolve their problems” adding that “most teachers don’t do their jobs all that well to request wages of that size”. Some residents say that this approach from education workers “likely has interests lobbied by the opposition” behind it.
Looking at residents’ opinions online it can be concluded that many of them believe “teachers have become too shameless and have forgotten that theirs is not the only sector where people are paid small wages”.
Some social network users remind LIZDA manager that social workers, state administration workers and medical workers have not seen wage increases for years, whereas “teachers get their slice of pie every year thanks to manipulations and blackmail of the government”.
Whether LIZDA has plans to submit its initiative to the Saeima is unknown at this time.
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