Friday's round of talks between Polish teachers' unions and the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party did not bring a breakthrough and it seems that now the nationwide strike is imminent.
There are no indications that would allow us to consider calling off the Monday's strike," the head of the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP), Sławomir Broniarz, said after the negotiations.
Broniarz said that the strike is to start on Monday 8th of April, however it is still possible to avoid it, as long as the government agrees to the unions' demands.
The unionists initially wanted a 1000-zloty raise for every teacher, but along the course of negotiations, they pared the demands down to a 30-percent pay increase.
The ministry of education issued a statement on Friday, in which it cautioned that the strike is neither a reason for calling off classes in schools and pre-schools, nor for closing them.
The Civic Platform opposition party, that has just recently vowed to grant teachers the raises they demanded once in power, announced that they would file a motion for a vote of no-confidence against the education minister Anna Zalewska.
The last-ditch talks are scheduled for Sunday and if no agreement is reached, the teachers will commence their protest.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24