site.btaThousands of Teachers Protest in Bucharest, Demand Higher Wages

Nearly 5,000 teachers from across Romania gathered Tuesday to protest in front of the government building in downtown Bucharest, causing chaos and huge traffic jams. Carrying megaphones, vuvuzelas, whistles, sirens and flags, the protesters chanted "You are thieves", "Shame, shame on you!" and "We want decent salaries", some slogans even hung on brooms. 

The protesters also waved placards reading "Without education, every nation dies", "When you invest in education, you invest in the future", "United we are strong", "Teachers should not be on welfare", "The system is rotten. Teachers are fleeing", and "We are teachers, we are not beggars".

" We have never liked what the government has to offer. The humiliation is complete. Nothing has changed in the 30 years I have worked in the education system. We want a complete overhaul of the Education Act. With these miserable wages, we will continue to strike as long as it takes," a protesting teacher told BTA. 

The protest, which was also supported by many students, continues the general strike in education with demands for higher salaries. Talks with the government followed, which the teachers' trade unions claim did not achieve anything.

According to representatives of the Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education, they had wanted to achieve agreement in a civilized fashion, not vuvuzelas and whistles, but had been left with no choice, as the government's offer was laughable. 

Now the strike has grown into one with demands for respect and the social status of those who work in the system of education, the head of the Federation of Trade Unions in Education, Marius Nistor, told BTA. 

The general strike in education began on May 22.