Steven N.It’s no coincidence that Minister Gergely Gulyás announced a salary increase for public schoolteachers in Thursday’s Government Information briefing, considering that both the Teachers Union (PSZ) and the Democratic Union of Teachers (PDSZ) have announced a strike for October 14, said Gábor Gosztonyi, Vice President of PSZ.
According to the government’s plans, the average monthly teaching salary could be as high as gross 777,673 Ft. (US$1,772) by 2025, and teachers in less economically-developed regions will earn 90%, instead of 80%, of the average salary for college graduates. If the average graduate salary ends up higher than what is currently expected, then teacher salaries will also go up.
But as Gosztonyi responded:
This is already the umpteenth announcement on increasing salaries for teachers in just the past year, since the strike committee formed… However, let’s not forget that the government can only keep the promise made by Gergely Gulyás at today’s government briefing if they can come to an agreement with the EU on funding. Everything that was said today was conditional, which makes it hard to do anything.
Gosztonyi belives it was not coincidental that Gergely Gulyás announced a salary increase for teachers during Thursday’s government briefing, as the intent was to discourage teachers from taking part in tomorrow’s strike.
I really hope that those working in education understand what this announcement is about. Obviously, the intention was to mitigate the school district’s excesses, but I am confident that this will not have an effect on tomorrow’s activities in any way.
-Gosztonyi stated, adding:
We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated, we will not allow ourselves to be fooled with such meaningless information. We will continue the fight until there is a decision on funding from Brussels and on a substantial wage increase, and until a specific and signed agreement is reached between the strike committee and the government.
