FSLI President Simion Hencescu said on Tuesday that education trade unionists had been “taken for fools” and The government has not provided any “acceptable” proposals since the beginning of the educational strike. “I’m doing some more calculations and we’ll see what other option the governors can offer.”

“It is possible that if the government makes such proposals as it has been so far, it is obvious that the risk is high and it is really at an undesirable time. There are also those who suggested protesting during the holidays. In some ideas, let’s protest in July, August, when people are on vacation. Look, we are protesting now because the knife has reached the bone and they really took us for fools, I tell you with all responsibility,” said Hencescu, when asked if it is possible to extend the strike in education for several weeks.

The president of FSLI specified that “nothing acceptable for people has been drawn up yet.”

“We have a very clear mandate, and I repeat, if the Government comes with a regulatory act to give increases in advance, to cover the level of inflation, and in that regulatory act to write in black and white what they removed from the Education Act, namely the salary scale fees will be built based on the principle that a beginning teacher will have an average salary in the economy, nothing will be stopped,” explained Prima’s Simion Hencescu, according to News.ro.

About the risk of postponing the final exams, the FSIL representative said: “Unfortunately, it is possible, it all depends on the Government.”

Hencescu also commented on the possible wave of hatred after this protest. “How we were humiliated and mocked, I think it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Simion Hencescu said that government officials “are still doing some calculations, and we will see what alternative they can offer.”

“To be clear, there is money in Romania, but it is not properly distributed, let them count some domains, there are domains with an army of people. (..) I invited them tomorrow, it will be a pleasant surprise to come and talk face to face with others. I left an invitation to the government today, but I cannot guarantee that they will arrive,” Hencescu said.

In addition, the leaders of the education trade union federations have already said after a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke and PSD leader Marcel Çolaku that the strike could be prolonged.

Nicolae Chuke said on Tuesday morning, the second day of a general strike in education, that he could not meet union demands because they were “very difficult to meet” at the moment, citing the loss of European funds along with wage increases that would deepen the budget deficit.

The day before, Chuke called on education workers to return to the department, “especially at this extremely important time for students,” saying that “the government is ready to realize the vision of student-centered education.” He made the announcement after the Senate passed laws on education, which the opposition announced they would challenge in the Constitutional Court.

The president of the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education (FSLI), Simion Hencescu, reacted by saying that the Prime Minister’s announcement would only increase the number of strikers.

Requirements of trade unions in education:

• “Increasing the salaries of education workers, in accordance with the social significance of the work performed, based on the principle that the salary of a novice teacher should be no less than the average salary in the economy, the salary of the entire teaching staff, should be implemented gradually, in the report on the position, training , seniority and teaching degree;
• Establishing the rule of annual indexation of employees’ wages from budget funds to the level of inflation;
• Payment of additional hours performed by auxiliary teaching and non-teaching staff;
• Provision of allowances for working conditions for education workers;
• provision of rights provided for by current legislation and collective labor agreements (travel allowance, payment of work allowance, additional leave, monetary compensation for unused leave, etc.);
• Annual increase in investment in education, improvement of the material base and infrastructure;
• Abandoning the EduSal program and replacing it with a computerized payroll program managed and administered by the Ministry of Education.”