Bulgarian teachers launch unprecedented strike

Bulgarian teachers are starting the sixth week of general strike after rejecting a final offer made by the government before it went on to adopt next year's budget. Representatives of the main teachers' unions in Bulgaria announced on Oct. 29 that an agreement reached over the weekend with the government was rejected by the majority of strikers. The educators said "no" to a proposed wage increase of roughly 48 percent, to take place gradually until July 2008. Tens of thousands of Bulgarian teachers have been on strike since Sept. 24, one week after the beginning of the 2007 academic year. More than 60 percent of the schools in the country have been shut down. Bulgarian teachers usually protest at the beginning of each academic year, but the magnitude of the movement this year is unprecedented. The educators have been asking for a doubling of their salaries and for five percent of the country's gross national income (Gross National Income) to be allocated to education. Yanka Takeva, head of the largest teachers' union in Bulgaria, said that the current average monthly salary of a teacher in Bulgaria is 189 euro, which she said is "humiliating." Rent and expenses for a modest two-room apartment in Bulgarian capital Sofia are close to 200 euro. More than 150,000 teachers are employed in about 3,000 schools in the country at wages below the national average. According to Eurostat's "Key Data on Education in Europe 2005," the maximum basic salary for a teacher in Bulgaria is lower than the national GNI per capita. The GNI per capita in Bulgaria, a member of the EU starting this year, is about a third of the EU average. But the teachers are not just asking for better pay. They want more government investment in education. Roughly 90 percent of schools in the country are in the state sector. Since the early 1990s, funds from the state budget dedicated to educational equipment and maintenance have been decreasing. The authorities have argued that spending cuts are necessary in order to meet the economic criteria for joining the EU. In earlier years, when their demands were rejected by the authorities, Bulgarian teachers returned to classes after a few weeks. With subsistence level salaries, they could hardly risk losing a month's pay. Besides, the teachers worried about students missing too many classes. But, this year, the teachers have radicalized. An incident on Oct. 7 further increased their determination to fight the government. That day, representatives of the teachers met with education minister Daniel Vulchev and finance minister Plamen Oresharski. With television microphones next to him, Oresharski whispered to Vulchev: "Let's get this sedyanka (village gossip gathering) over with. Tomorrow, the experts do the talking. They can certainly drag on the talks." "It was clear to us then that the government does not really want to discuss. They just want to give the impression they are negotiating, but all they are interested in is getting us back to classes and working in the same miserable conditions," Ani Kristeeva, a high school teacher from Blagoevgrad, 75 km south-west of Sofia, told IPS. Socialist Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev expressed full support for the two ministers, declaring that he would not accept pressure from the unions to dismiss the ministers for their blunder just as he would not apply pressure on the unions to change their leadership. The ministers merely had to issue public apologies. In a statement addressed to National Assembly chairman Georgi Pirinski and Prime Minister Serghei Stanishev on Oct. 11, union representatives explained: "Our patience and hopes have been exhausted, and that is why the Bulgarian teachers and non-teaching personnel are striking. What is happening today is unprecedented for Bulgaria, and is a logical consequence of your inaction." On Oct. 18, more than 50,000 teachers from all over the country participated in a national rally in the capital. Such actions were organized in other cities as well. Some protesters blocked roads -- among them, main highway E79, running across the country from the Danube in the north to the Greek border in the south. Many teachers went on hunger strike. As protests rose, so did the government reaction. Teachers complained of police intimidation. "Policemen have stormed schools and handed teachers notices for breaching the public order in front of the eyes of the students," a representative of the two biggest trade unions said at a press conference Oct. 26. Union leader Yanka Takeva said she and her family had received anonymous threats over the phone. "I am glad we are not giving up," Dani Kovacheva, an English teacher and member of the Bulgarian Teachers Trade Union told IPS. "In previous years, our unions fought with each other, and while some of us wanted to keep striking, others gave in. Until now, this year has been different. But things may change any day. People are getting tired; the children will have a hard time making up for the wasted time."