Thousands of Polish teachers went on strike on Monday over pay and working conditions, in a mass walkout that piles pressure on the ruling Law and Justice party just six weeks before European parliamentary elections.
The FT reports that lLast-ditch negotiations on Sunday failed to find a compromise, after the government refused demands for a pay rise of 1000 zloty per month ($260), prompting Poland’s two main teachers’ unions to strike. A third, smaller union struck a deal with the government. The open-ended walkout is the biggest since 1993 and threatens to cause chaos in Poland’s schools as it comes just days before middle-school children across the country are due to sit end-of-year exams.
Euronews reports that public sector workers in Poland stepped up calls for pay increases after the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) promised in February a hefty increase social spending as part of its election campaign.
According to the ZNP, almost 80 percent of Polish schools and kindergartens have declared they would take part in the strike, but the union has not said how long it would last.
In March thousands of workers at Polish courts and prosecutors’ offices took to the streets of Warsaw to demand better pay and working conditions.
Teachers’ salaries in Poland range between 750 euros and 1,250 per month. Official data in February showed the average corporate salary in Poland stood at around 1,200 euros.
