The last time teachers’ salaries were raised was this year, with the monthly salary increased by 2%. Photo Credit: Freepik
Prague, Sep 1 (CTK) – The school workers’ trade union wants the state to spend 15 percent more on the wages of teachers and non-teaching staff next year, its head Frantisek Dobsik said yesterday, adding that the demand is a response to rising prices, the decrease in real wages and the economic development outlook.
A 15-percent increase will cost CZK 18 billion. “Our goal is to add the biggest possible part of it to base pay. We will start negotiations about it,” said the union’s deputy chair Marketa Seidlova.
If wages rose by 15 percent, the average gross wage of teachers would reach CZK 52,710 next year, corresponding to 122 percent of the expected average wage in the Czech Republic.
This year, the average teacher’s wage is CZK 45,835, which is 113 percent of the national average wage, the union said, citing the government policy statement that the average teacher’s wage should reach 130 percent of the national average.
Last time teachers saw their pay increase was at the beginning of this year, when their base monthly pay increased by 2 percent.
For non-teaching school staff, pay remained frozen in January, but it is to rise by 10 percent from September.
According to data from the Czech Statistical Office (CSU), year-on-year inflation reached 17.5 percent in July. According to the Finance Ministry’s latest forecast, prices will rise by 16.2 percent on average this year and by 8.8 percent next year.
Last year, the national average gross monthly wage was CZK 37,839. According to the Profesia.cz portal, this rose to CZK 49,166 in the first half of this year.
