Dear colleagues,
The ETUC and the ETUCE stand in solidarity with the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) and the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) in their mobilisation, protest and strike to ask the government to take responsibility and fulfil the agreement reached in September 2022 for salary adjustment and balancing of the workload of all education personnel at national level, by adopting amendments to the relevant normative acts.
The government fulfilled until now only part of the agreement. The whole agreement must be respected!
This means in particular the government must ensure:
- The salary increase schedule for pedagogues for the period from September 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025 and to ensure the necessary budget funding;
- Balancing the workload of all educators from 2023.
If the government fails to act, then the salary increase currently received will be the last salary increase for years. In September 2023, 2024 and 2025, the salary will not be increased, because the schedule has not been approved and there is no funding for it in the state budget.
The government and politicians must take responsibility and respect the agreement reached in 2022!
Failing to act would be an attack on the well-being and aspirations of workers and their families. This would be unacceptable, even more when inequalities are growing and the cost-of-living crisis is severe. It would only increase distrust of a political system that seeks to place a greater burden on working people and it would undermine accountability and decisions democratically taken.
ETUC and ETUCE applaud your determination, and we support you wholeheartedly.
We call on the Latvian government to respect the agreement and take the necessary actions.
Together we can create a fairer and more social Europe for workers.
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Esther Lynch Susan Flocken
ETUC General Secretary ETUCE European Director
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