According to Andrius Navickas, Chairman of Lithuanian Education Employees' Trade Union (LSDPS), approximately 120 schools will join the strike, a similar number as during the warning strike in November. The strike will involve schools in Kaunas and Vilnius district, Navickas says it will also spread to Klaipeda. The strike will be held in almost half of Lithuania's municipalities with 5,000-6,000 teachers participating.
"We would like for the indefinite strike to be brief, but it could continue from one to several weeks," said Navickas.
According to the chairman, during the strike some schools will not be operating at all. These include, Panevezys Karkos School, Vilnius Juventos Gymansium, Siauliai Centro School and others.
There are approximately 1,200 schools in Lithuania, hence the strike will encompass one tenth of schools.
As reported, the United Representation of Lithuanian Educational Trade Unions submitted a list of 6 demands to the Ministry of Education and Science, and expects they will be fulfilled already this year. The trade unions demand: to reinstate education vouchers to pre-2009 level from LTL 3,348 to LTL 3,774 (from EUR 970 to EUR 1,093); to reinstate the basic monthly salary from LTL 122 to LTL 128 (from EUR 35 to EUR 37). It is also demanded to equalise salaries of pre-school teachers and teachers, to sign a collective labour agreement and establish favourable conditions by 1 September 2015 for teachers to retire at the age of 55. The trade unions also asked to reduce the number of schoolchildren in classes.
