Bulgarian teachers in mass strike

Around 15,000 Bulgarian school and nursery teachers demonstrated in front of the government Thursday in demanding double pay. Unofficial police estimates put the number of protesters at about 15,000, while strike committee spokesman Nikolay Nikolov estimated that around 50,000 teachers were gathered in the square. Bulgarian teachers in mass strike There were severe traffic disruptions in the centre of Sofia earlier in the morning as protesters marched to the government buildings, blowing whistles and shouting for the government to resign. Teacher protests for a 100 percent pay rise began on September 15, the official start of the school term in Bulgaria. The government’s refusal to offer them more than a 32 percent pay rise prompted nurseries and schools to cancel classes a week later and the strike is continuing. Over 120,000 people are employed in the nursery and school sector in Bulgaria, where the average monthly salary barely reaches EUR 200. But Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said the government cannot afford to meet teachers’ demands for double pay as it could lead to “hyperinflation” and trigger a wave of demands from other state employees. Stanishev’s government was already swamped with demands for higher salaries from civil servants in the past few months, with discontent fed by this summer’s record inflation, which soared to 12 percent on a 12-month basis in August. Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski also said on Wednesday that he is “worried about the macroeconomic stability” in the country that joined the European Union in January and is currently the bloc’s poorest member. But teachers vowed yesterday to continue industrial action until their demands are met. And Bulgaria’s largest university, Sofia University, also threatened to shut down on November 1, if the government does not agree to increase budget spending on education. The protesters moved in the afternoon to parliament, where they formed a human chain, before returning to the government offices, where they were to hold a silent vigil. Some carried slogans that read “If school costs too much, just wait and see if ignorance does not” and “There is enough money to sustain corruption but not to raise salaries”.

Bulgarian teachers in mass strike

There were severe traffic disruptions in the centre of Sofia earlier in the morning as protesters marched to the government buildings, blowing whistles and shouting for the government to resign.

Teacher protests for a 100 percent pay rise began on September 15, the official start of the school term in Bulgaria.

The government’s refusal to offer them more than a 32 percent pay rise prompted nurseries and schools to cancel classes a week later and the strike is continuing.

Over 120,000 people are employed in the nursery and school sector in Bulgaria, where the average monthly salary barely reaches EUR 200.

But Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said the government cannot afford to meet teachers’ demands for double pay as it could lead to “hyperinflation” and trigger a wave of demands from other state employees.

Stanishev’s government was already swamped with demands for higher salaries from civil servants in the past few months, with discontent fed by this summer’s record inflation, which soared to 12 percent on a 12-month basis in August.

Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski also said on Wednesday that he is “worried about the macroeconomic stability” in the country that joined the European Union in January and is currently the bloc’s poorest member.

But teachers vowed yesterday to continue industrial action until their demands are met. And Bulgaria’s largest university, Sofia University, also threatened to shut down on November 1, if the government does not agree to increase budget spending on education.

The protesters moved in the afternoon to parliament, where they formed a human chain, before returning to the government offices, where they were to hold a silent vigil.

Some carried slogans that read “If school costs too much, just wait and see if ignorance does not” and “There is enough money to sustain corruption but not to raise salaries”.