At the beginning of the 2011/2012 school year, some districts were planning to lay off up to 30% of their teaching staff. A demographic slump has caused a significant fall in pupil numbers, and the local governments responsible for supervising and funding public education up to secondary level are in financial difficulties. According to ZNP, the Polish Teachers’ Union, local governments use the demographic slump as a pretext for excessive cuts in teaching staff, which may cause a dramatic deterioration in the quality of teaching. Educational trade unions are also protesting that the current situation is used by central government and local authorities to try to bypass guaranteed working conditions and wages as set out in the Teachers’ Charter.
English: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2011/07/articles/pl1107019i.htm
This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.