Romania: teachers continue strike
The teachers' strike in Romania continues - despite an emergency decree passed by the government last week announcing an immediate raise in their salaries and further increases in the coming years. Many strikers still see their demands as unmet and distrust the government's promises. Comments from the national press show understanding for this position.
Iohannis is a disappointment
Commenting on republica.ro, writer Radu Vancu sharply criticises the president and former physics teacher Klaus Iohannis, who condemned the strike pointing to concessions already made and the upcoming baccalaureate exams:
“I am ashamed that this president is a teacher. This is not the way for a teacher to behave, dear students. A teacher, even if he is the president of the country, does not humiliate other teachers, does not threaten them from his position of power. ... A teacher does not leave education chronically underfunded. ... A teacher does not pretend to negotiate and later advocate an emergency decree which teaching staff reject. Nor does a teacher claim that he gave them exactly what they asked for.”
Time for a general strike
To force the government to act, cross-sector solidarity among workers is needed now, writes teacher and journalist Costi Rogozanu in Libertatea:
“Its great fear is my great hope: a general strike spanning multiple sectors. I even call for massive protests regarding the minimum wage, which needs to be raised urgently and significantly. There is also a need for solidarity between parents and teachers - without inciting hatred, which is what the communicators of the Ciucă government are doing. A strike is already in the offing in the railway sector, as well as in the healthcare sector. ... For decades our country has fed itself on poorly paid work and a lack of rights. ... I'm tired of the slogan 'to each his own'.”