Educators are on strike on the road on March 5 as well. Some of them have been walking for days to Čačak, where a large protest meeting of teachers called "A step to freedom" will be held on March 6.
Several hundred are walking from the four corners of Serbia educational workers u relay races, among whom there are also those who are about to retire - to gather on March 6 at a large protest of teachers in Čačak. On the same day, they should receive their salary for February, for which the relevant ministry threatened that they would not receive it.
"Most of the people who are marching were on strike during February, so tomorrow (February 6th) we will see a big protest, probably without payment," Aleksandar Vinić from the Association of Schools on Strike told "Vreme".
"Until the last moment, we won't know how the salary will be paid, but they have already announced that we, the teachers from Čačak, who are on a complete work stoppage all the time, will not receive a salary at all."
Retired Minister of Education Slavica Đukić Dejanović said once again on Wednesday (March 5) in the Serbian Parliament that those who worked in the past month and those who did not can't be paid the same in schools.
At the session of the Assembly of Serbia, she expressed her gratitude to the teachers who teach 45-minute classes and that is why, as she stated, they suffer from the stigma of "those from the street".
He adds that some of those teachers succumbed to the pressure, so they decided to keep the lessons shortened to 30 minutes.
Professional workers from all over Serbia go to Čačak
The Belgrade team of teachers set off for Čačak on March 3 and will cover a total of 160 kilometers, in a march organized by the informal association United Education of Serbia.
These teachers cover 15 to 20 kilometers a day, then hand over the baton to their colleagues, and they should arrive in Čačak on March 6 after 13 pm.
"There are about 200 of us, there are also students with us, we meet people who have prepared food for us, this is a really wonderful experience," Dragana Stanišić, a biology teacher from Lazarevac, told Vreme. "Doctors and technicians from Lazarevac are also in the column with us."
The second team is led by Dušan Bojanić, a teacher who walked to Niš, and now walks to Čačak. On the fourth of March, he traveled as much as 60 kilometers. They are currently (as this text is being written on March 5 at noon) between Kraljevo and Čačak and will arrive at their final destination on the evening of the 5th.
The third column is coming from the direction of Užice and Požega, while the fourth is coming from Guča and Lucan.
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A large gathering of educators will be held in Čačak on March 6 from 15 p.m.
The protest is organized so that teachers from all over Serbia will gather, and the gathered will be addressed by representatives of educational workers, students, parents, as well as health workers.
Breaking the law
If the wages of school employees are reduced, and that reduction is not a consequence of legally implemented and legally concluded disciplinary procedures, the persons responsible for such procedures will be subject to lawsuits and criminal charges, according to the Independent Union of Educational Workers of Vojvodina.
"There is no legal basis to reduce or not pay wages to employees who are suspended due to compromised safety. The Law on Strike cannot be applied to them because they are not on strike. When an employee refuses to work based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the employer considers that the employee's request is not justified, he is obliged to immediately notify the labor inspection. "Not a single school principal acted in that way, which confirmed that the suspension of the employees' work was justified," they added in the announcement.
Responsible persons in school administrations and the Ministry of Education who reduce or do not pay wages to employees will bear serious legal consequences, the union appeals.
Call for suspension this week as well
According to the data of the Association of Schools on Strike, last week around 500 schools were suspended, and in 400 classes were shortened to 30 minutes.
The Association notes that it is not complete data on all school employees who are on strike, but only those that are available to them.
The informal group United Education of Serbia consists of: Active school in suspension Pančevo, Association of schools on strike Belgrade 2, Association of schools on strike Zaječar, Association of schools on strike Užice, Association of schools on strike Čačak, Zdravitas nije za vas, Music and ballet schools, Bununjeni University, Proactive University of Kosovska Mitrovica, Education of Serbia with students, Education with students Novi Sad, PULS of elementary schools, PULS of secondary schools, United Zemun Primary Schools UZOŠ, Free University of Novi Sad, United Banat Education, Forum of Belgrade High Schools and Forum of Primary and Secondary Schools Šabac.
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