Croatian Teachers Protest Demanding Higher Salaries

Some 1,500 teachers from all across Croatia held a protest rally on Wednesday to demand higher wages in the education system.

They walked in a procession in the centre of Zagreb, ending their walk in front of the government building, where organizers and union representatives made speeches.

Sanja Sprem, president of the Teachers' Union, said the teachers would not give up on their demands.

"We are united, we are seeking indexed growth in wages for all employees in schools, today, here. It doesn't matter if I'm a teacher, a cook or a cleaning lady, we're all one," Sprem said.

Organizers said they had strong support for their demands and that there were just 1,500 of them present because that is the number of persons who can gather in St Mark's Square, which is where the Croatian government is located.

After the speeches, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic received the protest organizers to discuss their demands, which is for wages in education to rise by an index of 6.11 per cent.

Teachers' representatives said the Prime Minister and the government had a deadline of 10 days to meet their demands but did not expect to have to strike.

"We have reached the conclusion that there is no need to announce a strike at the moment when we are talking, but if the conversation does not end as expected, we will announce a strike," trade unionist Branimir Mihalinec said.

Croatian teachers protesting in Zagreb, in front of government's building. Photo: BIRN.

Croatian teachers protesting in Zagreb, in front of government's building. Photo: BIRN.

Croatian teachers protesting in Zagreb, banner that reads: "Neglected education - Croatia without move". Photo: BIRN.

Croatian teachers protesting in Zagreb...