Union and government clash over teachers earning below minimum wage in Poland
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Loading... - Vasquez Regina
- 16 Feb 2023
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The basic salary of some teachers in Poland is now lower than the minimum wage, the country’s main teachers union has pointed out, calling the situation “absolutely unfathomable” and “unacceptable”.
The education ministry, however, says that teachers’ salaries will soon rise by 8%, with pay backdated to cover the period in which they fell below the minimum.
The government has this year introduced Poland’s largest-ever annual rise in the minimum wage. It rose from 3,010 zloty (€642) per month before tax last year to 3,490 zloty (€744) in January this year, with a further increase to 3,600 (€767) zloty due to take place in July.
Last week, Sławomir Broniarz, head of the Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), noted that this means that the lowest three pay grades of teachers – who receive between 3,329 zloty and 3,425 per month – now earn less than the minimum wage.
“It’s an illustration of how the government, the education ministry, treats teachers,” said Borniarz this week. His union has been in a long-running dispute with the government over its demands for improved pay and conditions for teachers.
The education ministry, however, explained to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that planned raises for teachers are on hold while the state budget, which was approved by the lower house of parliament – where the government has a majority – in December, awaits a vote in the opposition-controlled Senate.
“As a result of a change to the basic [salary] amount, the average teacher’s pay will increase by 7.8% in relation to wages that came to force in September 2022,” spokeswoman Adrianna Całus-Polak told PAP.
Całus-Polak assured teachers that the pay rises will apply retrospectively, being backdated to 1 January 2023. She added that, in the meantime, supplementary pay is being issued in cases where salaries are below the minimum wage.
The spokeswoman also said that the ministry wants to increase teachers’ wages further in order to “strengthen the prestige and attractiveness of the profession”. But this requires “continued dialogue with social partners”, she added. Read More…
