Estonia will not find money for raising teachers' salaries next year
On Thursday, negotiations began over next year's minimum salary for teachers. While teachers hoped that their pay would not fall below the Estonian national average next year, Minister of Education Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) said that the state lacks the funds teachers are after.
On Thursday, teachers met with the minister of education to discuss next year's income. Remo Voltri, head of the Estonian Education Personnel Union, entered the negotiations with a clear objective.
"We are approaching these negotiations with a long-discussed goal: that teachers' salaries should start at the national average. This is the minimum we should be aiming for teachers, who are specialists with master's degrees in Estonia," Voltri said.
An hour later, Voltri admitted that, given the state's financial difficulties, the desired increase in the minimum salary would be unattainable.
However, Voltri emphasized that it is crucial that next year's minimum teacher salary does not fall below the Estonian national average. Currently, teacher salaries are around 94 percent of the national average wage.
"In that case, teachers would be able to maintain workplace stability if such a goal were realized," Voltri said.
When asked whether teachers' salaries would rise next year, Kallas responded that it is very difficult to promise a raise given the current state of the budget.
The average salary in Estonia is currently just over €2,000, and according to Kallas, fulfilling the teachers' demands would require an additional €80 million.
"It is already known that the Ministry of Education needs to cut €80 million. We simply don't have the resources to meet teachers' demands for a raise. I have no reason to believe we will find the missing millions in the state budget," Kallas said.
According to Voltri, the teachers' minor concession does not mean they are giving up on the salary negotiations.
"It is very important that we don't focus only on a one-year perspective, but as stated in the document ending the strike, we must reach a collective agreement this year between all parties: local governments, the state and the teachers. The agreement should outline the steps needed to achieve the necessary goal by 2027 at the latest," Voltri said.
If the contents of this collective agreement are included in the state's budget strategy, teachers would be willing to accept a smaller pay raise next year and maintain workplace stability, Voltri confirmed.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Marcus Turovski
