Education unions hold referendum in all schools to decide whether to go on general strike

The three trade unions of education staff are holding a referendum in all schools in which employees are called upon to decide whether to go on a warning strike or a general strike in January if the government fails to grant employees in the system the wage increases provided by law, the president of the Federation of Free Education Unions (FSLI), Simion Hancescu, told AGERPRES on Monday.

"People have every reason to be dissatisfied and it is very possible that the protests will continue next year. If people are dissatisfied, in my opinion the supreme form of trade union struggle is the general strike, which can wake up the rulers from lethargy. We have decided that Thursday is the deadline to receive statistical feedback - not necessarily signatures - to know what their position is. It is not up to us [the trade union leaders - ed.n.] to decide the general strike. If people feel 'All right, that's it' and they want to protest, we will announce further and we will see what will come out of this," said Simion Hancescu.

The representatives of the education unions participated, on Monday, in a rally in front of the Government, requesting the observance of the salary increases stipulated in the legislation.AGERPRES