Martin Mihailović, a member of the Presidency of the Union of Educational Workers of Serbia, expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s recent proposal to raise salaries for education employees by 11 percent starting January. He emphasized that the planned strike and protest scheduled for November 1 should proceed, as the current offer does not meet prior agreements.
“In October 2023, we reached an agreement with the Serbian government to ensure that the salaries of new teachers would match the national average. Even with this proposed increase, salaries will not reach that average for August of this year, let alone for January or October,” Mihailović stated.
In response to government warnings that any ongoing strikes must remain within legal parameters, Mihailović noted that this implies reducing teaching hours to 30 minutes. He added that if any colleague chooses to work the full 45 minutes, provisions must be made for that.
The Government of Serbia announced an 11 percent salary increase for all education employees during a meeting with union representatives, effective January 1 of next year.
