SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 3 (ONASA) – After a detailed consideration of yesterday’s response of the Sarajevo Canton Government, which was prepared by the Sarajevo Canton Minister of Education, to our 12 demands that were defined by the Decision on the three-day, two-hour warning strike in preschool and elementary education institutions and which are defined by the Decision on organizing and holding a protest rally on February 14, 2024 under the motto “We are looking for education tailored to students and their teachers”, we asked members of the Union’s bodies: “Given that the Sarajevo Canton Government did not meet the most important demands of the Union, should the Union continue with preparations for protests on February 14 and preparations for a general strike?”
A unanimous decision was made: Let’s fight to the end for children and workers!
Therefore, workers in preschool and elementary education institutions and their union representatives did not sell out for 10% and remained principled and committed to the fight for children and workers’ rights.
On Wednesday, February 14, there will be protests by educators in Sarajevo Canton, where 1,000-1,500 participants are expected. On February 8, the meeting will be announced to the competent authorities, in accordance with the law. Educators from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region will come to the protest rally, as well as all those who support the struggle of the trade union for education tailored to students and their teachers. If all the demands of the Union are not met by February 14, the participants of the protest will also have a 13th demand, which will be an excellent assumption to quickly resolve all 12 demands.
From today, the union is launching concrete activities regarding the organization of a general strike (complete work stoppage) in kindergartens and primary schools in the area of Sarajevo Canton and publicly calls on the Government of Sarajevo Canton to start the reconciliation process next week, which, in accordance with the law, can last a maximum of 30 days. We will also provide them with an official written request.
Regarding the reaction and denial to what the Trade Union read and analyzed yesterday, by item, that is, by the demands of the Trade Union:
1. strict compliance with the law and the Collective Agreement
On several occasions, the Trade Union could call the workers on strike without conciliation because the minister and her government did not respond to written initiatives and letters, which means that they regularly acted contrary to the provisions of the Law on Administrative Procedure (on one issue, the Trade Union even wrote over 300 times, received a reply four times and the problem was not solved) and an obvious example of violation of the law is that the competent state agency clearly wrote that they violated the Law on Protection of Personal Data.
2. for the Ministry of Education to stop endangering the acquired rights of workers
At the beginning of this school year, all union commissioners in the House of Unions, at a meeting where the Minister of Education was invited to seek justice for the omissions in electoral areas (the mother tongue affair), publicly announced that she would threaten the acquired rights of workers from the collective agreement and her proposal of the Pedagogical Standards and the harassment of over 300 workers (teaching assistants) regarding evaluation are only part of the evidence and arguments for this request.
3. increasing the coefficients of all workers by at least 10%
The negotiations at the level of the negotiating teams have been completed, the Government’s negotiating team has offered an increase of 10% starting from March 1, 2024. Why did they increase the salary for themselves and some other groups of workers in Sarajevo Canton from December 1, 2023 and to educators from March 1, 2024? There is money for them whenever and however much they want, but there is none for educators?
4. signing a new Collective Agreement without diminishing acquired rights and all provisions of the Collective Agreement that cannot be contracted to be less than those established for workers in administrative bodies, the Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education, social welfare institutions, the police, secondary and higher education and cultural institutions
The collective agreement is valid until April 30, 2024, the new collective agreement has not yet been extended or signed. Workers at the Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education will have much higher salaries than educators even after a possible 10% increase. And if they sign a new collective agreement or extend the valid collective agreement for secondary education in which the coefficients for some groups are higher than in kindergartens and primary schools, this will automatically mean submitting an initiative for equalizing rights and new negotiations. And this is exactly what the Minister of Education is doing these days: in public she tells fairy tales about how she fights for children, and fanatically fights all the time exclusively for the directors (I guess she thinks she will buy them for a few hundred KM and subjugate them to herself and with their own designs, not knowing that most of them are honest people who do not sell themselves), while the Union fights feverishly not only for all workers, including all directors, but also for children.
5. equating our salaries with the salaries of employees working in the Public Institution Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education
We quote the response of the Sarajevo Canton Government: “An analysis of salaries in schools in the Sarajevo Canton shows that a number of employees in education have higher incomes than the employees of the Institute, primarily thanks to the allowances made possible by the application of the Collective Agreement for preschool and elementary education”. Is the Union’s comment necessary? One number? What number exactly? Injustice is a dangerous thing for the government. When injustice becomes the rule, resistance becomes a duty.
6. increase of the lowest salary by 10% from January 1, 2024
The negotiations at the level of the negotiating teams have been completed, the Government’s negotiating team has offered to increase the lowest salary by 10% from January 1, 2024. Why did they give it to some other groups of workers in Sarajevo Canton from December 1, 2023 and to educators from January 1, 2024? There is money for them whenever and however much they want, but there is none for educators?
7. salary increase of non-teaching staff based on performance evaluation as agreed for workers in administrative bodies
The negotiations at the level of the negotiating teams have been completed, the Government’s negotiating team has offered to evaluate the workers from March 1, 2024. Why did they give it to some other groups of workers in Sarajevo Canton from December 1, 2023 and on a monthly basis, and to educators from March 1, 2024 at the six-month level? There is money for them whenever and however much they want, but there is none for educators?
8. stopping administrative reforms that unnecessarily burden the work of kindergartens and workers, especially those who are in direct educational work with children
We are quoting the response of the Sarajevo Canton Government: “In response to the request related to administrative reforms, the Ministry emphasizes its readiness to talk after receiving a clarification from the Trade Union about which administrative reforms we are talking about.” When we read yesterday this very incorrect response signed by Naida Hota-Muminović, we immediately knew what would happen when the workers found out about it. Briefly and clearly, the curricular reform as it is implemented is 95% administrative reform, its disastrous move with the change of e Dnevnik in the middle of the school year and the attempt to introduce teaching areas are only part of the burden on the shoulders of educators.
9. preparation of Pedagogical standards and regulations with the participation of representatives of the Trade Union in the working group, and that the Government does not adopt them without the consent of the Trade Union
What the Minister of Education of the Sarajevo Canton proposed in the proposal for amendments to the Pedagogical Standards and Norms is the additional employment of workers in the administration and the imposition of additional administrative duties on teachers and other workers, which is catastrophic. Pedagogical standards and norms are one of the most important issues for workers. Because of them, educators protested in 2018. And now they will protest and strike. Without the workers’ consent, the employer may not adopt them because their rights will be endangered.
10. payment of aid according to the decree of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
We quote the response of the Government of Sarajevo Canton: “It is not possible to pay the aid according to the Decree of the Government of FBiH, because the Government of Sarajevo Canton predicted an increase in salaries through an increase in the base for salary calculation, as well as through an increase in the coefficients for salary calculation.” How did the gentlemen in power find the money for the increase coefficients after the adopted budget? Did the income in January increase compared to January last year, or did the minister hide some money in the budget of her Ministry, or some projects will not be realized, and if the latter, let them say which projects they are? In any case, it is no longer a matter of money but of consistency. We will not give away our dignity or let children and their parents down.
11. official status, benefited working experience and retirement under more favorable conditions
We quote the response of the Government of Sarajevo Canton: “Regarding the request that educators be granted the status of an official, benefited working experience and retirement under more favorable conditions, the Ministry notes that these issues are determined by the regulations of higher levels of government – federal and state level.” We know that and we are not asking for it to be resolved at the cantonal level, and we have told the minister and the prime minister several times publicly and personally. They pretend to be English. We ask that this issue be raised from Sarajevo Canton and that we raise it together. Are they ashamed of our colleagues who, during the siege of Sarajevo during the war, taught in basements? Minister, shame on you for such an answer!
12. change of outdated and extensive curricula, which implies reduction of teaching contents, reduction of the number of compulsory teaching subjects and compulsory teaching hours
We quote the response of the Government of Sarajevo Canton: “Also, in connection with the request to change the outdated and extensive curricula, they remind that the Sarajevo Canton was the first to start reforming curricula and are open to further improvements.”
As if we read a fairy tale. As if before January 5, 2021 nothing happened, nothing started, nothing well done. In the last three years, are our children’s backpacks lighter, are their textbooks better quality and more useful, are our children learning according to a curriculum that was created in accordance with the times, are the teaching contents adequate and sufficient for what our children need in life, can our children choose at least part of what they like and have an affinity for, should all our children have the same number of subjects and classes or should they choose something from what they like and have a talent for, should our children go to school with a smile and come back with tears because they are sorry that school doesn’t last longer because they have a good time at school, do our children have all the necessary competencies needed for life after finishing school?
The union will never give up on this demand. N e v e r !
Our struggle to fulfill all the demands of the Union continues.