Teachers call for Lončar resignation

Teachers’ Union officials are calling for the resignation of Education Minister Zoran Lončar.

Izvor: B92

Thursday, 06.12.2007.

12:34

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Teachers’ Union officials are calling for the resignation of Education Minister Zoran Loncar. The union and the government are still struggling to come to an agreement to end the teachers’ strike. Teachers call for Loncar resignation The situation has been exacerbated by the damning findings of the recent OECD report into standards of education that left Serbia perilously close to the foot of the league table. Education Union President Branislav Pavlovic said that the union had given its full support to the striking teachers and their representatives in the negotiations. “A decision was made that no-one would back down from the demands of a 15 percent salary increase. We also decided that the slow progress of negotiations and the behavior of Education Minister Zoran Loncar were grounds for his dismissal,” Pavlovic said. He added that Loncar had threatened union members during the last set of talks, stating that “as a state official he had access to files and could press criminal charges against members of the union.” Pavlovic said that, depending on the progress made in the next few days, the union would decide on whether or not to completely stop work and enter a full strike. Union secretary Miodrag Skrobonja told B92 that the government and union would continue to argue over the same issues. “The ministers bring us completely different facts every time. The number of employees and the input they use when calculating the total projections for the 2008 budget are constantly changing,” Skrobonja said. A new meeting between government and union officials has been scheduled for today. The union is asking for 15 percent pay rise while the state is offering six percent.

Teachers call for Lončar resignation

The situation has been exacerbated by the damning findings of the recent OECD report into standards of education that left Serbia perilously close to the foot of the league table.

Education Union President Branislav Pavlović said that the union had given its full support to the striking teachers and their representatives in the negotiations.

“A decision was made that no-one would back down from the demands of a 15 percent salary increase. We also decided that the slow progress of negotiations and the behavior of Education Minister Zoran Lončar were grounds for his dismissal,” Pavlović said.

He added that Lončar had threatened union members during the last set of talks, stating that “as a state official he had access to files and could press criminal charges against members of the union.”

Pavlović said that, depending on the progress made in the next few days, the union would decide on whether or not to completely stop work and enter a full strike.

Union secretary Miodrag Skrobonja told B92 that the government and union would continue to argue over the same issues.

“The ministers bring us completely different facts every time. The number of employees and the input they use when calculating the total projections for the 2008 budget are constantly changing,” Skrobonja said.

A new meeting between government and union officials has been scheduled for today. The union is asking for 15 percent pay rise while the state is offering six percent.

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