Primary and secondary school teachers these days are the only state workers who they did not receive their salaries, or only part of the income - due to the strike.
In order to fight for the demands of the students, as well as their own rights, many of them have been on strike since January 20, which is why they were deprived of their February income.
They are under attack from the authorities, they want to break their backs, they make personal sacrifices, while they receive "moral" support from the side. Some of them therefore feel abandoned and have a sad taste in their mouths - as if they have turned out to be fools, they say for "Vreme", while some mention that it would mean a lot to them if even their colleagues from the same branch - faculty professors - supported them in a personal way.
The new president of the Forum of Belgrade High Schools told "Vreme" that other state sector workers "they should not pity the teachers, but join them in the strike".
Igor Simić from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade tells "Vreme" that "University professors should show solidarity with primary and secondary school teachers, and that they should join".
We don't just think about ourselves.
Ana Vuković Vimić from the Faculty of Agriculture says that "we have talked with the students about the professors supporting the teachers with their own strike and thus taking personal responsibility and putting additional pressure on the state."
"This is not a situation where professors are just protecting themselves, but a better way to help education is being sought, and I think that at this moment it is best for professors to participate in compensating their colleagues for lost earnings," says Vuković Vimić for "Vreme".
"The problem in the event of a strike would be that our faculty, which pays its own utilities, would not have electricity and water, because a large part of the money comes from international projects on which the professors are involved," Vuković Vimić told Vreme. "Then the students would have nowhere to sleep."
Another, perhaps even bigger problem for the professor of the Faculty of Agriculture is that the faculties have a large number of non-teaching staff.
"We are not sure that the majority of them would agree to a strike, and at least this way the professors keep student support under control," she adds.
What is the effect?
Jelena Jerinić, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade and a deputy of the Green-Left coalition in the Parliament, thinks similarly. She tells "Vreme" that a university strike is one of the options, but that we need to see what are the best ways to support teachers.
"Perhaps it would be more valuable for professors to help through solidarity funds, because the question is what effect a strike would have on universities that are already under blockade," says Jerinić. "The legal fight is also a form of support, because non-payment of wages is illegal, and there is also the idea of involving other employees in the public sector in the general strike, which I think should not last just one day, but much longer."
FPN professor Zoran Stojiljković tells "Vreme" that the non-payment of salaries to teachers shows that "the regime is losing its nerve" and that it should remain consistent.
"The least we can expect from others is branch solidarity, which includes faculty professors," says Stojiljković. "Now, we are already in a blockade and it is not particularly logical for me to announce a strike, but to participate and join the support of teachers - that's for sure."
University in Revolt: Trying to Divide Us
The Rebellious University initiative stated that the announcements by government representatives about increasing the salaries of faculty professors and reducing the salaries of teachers in primary and secondary schools are "an attempt to cause conflict between employees in institutions of different levels of education, just at the moment when they are starting to act united."
"This kind of action by the Ministry of Education and the Government is not surprising, if you take into account the way they have worked during the last few years: the confused 'management' of schools during the pandemic period and after the events of May 2023, the abrupt termination of school years without consulting teachers, the non-acceptance of recommendations made by the academic community, insufficient care for the position of teachers, the unwillingness to listen to their demands and, finally, the failure to fulfill the obligations previously agreed and some signed with the unions are only from the example", announced the initiative.
The Rebel University is an initiative of employees in higher education and science, which currently has around 2.100 signatories.
ETF and Physical it su already done
Teachers, associates and employees of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade went on strike on January 21, just one day after their colleagues from the schools, demanding full fulfillment of all the students' demands.
The ETF collective expressed outrage at the growing media and physical violence against protesting students, which "culminated in the attempted murder of a female student of our university."
This faculty also states that all student requests become their requests, so they invited employees at all faculties and universities in Serbia to join them.
As a sign of support for students and educators, the Faculty of Physics, by majority vote of all employees, voted to go on strike from March 3.
"We are very affected by the attitude of the media and competent institutions, as well as authorities that are not responsible for education, towards educators who support student protests and/or suspend classes in protest against the very poor state of our education system," they added in the statement.
