Primary school teachers threaten strike action over new pay status

For several months, the teachers’ trade unions in Luxembourg have been in talks with the authorities regarding the upgrading of primary school teachers’ pay status. Neither negotiations nor demonstrations have proved successful in brokering an agreement between the government and trade union representatives. The teachers have now appealed to a mediator. Failing that measure, the trade unions are planning a strike for the start of the school year.

Teachers’ grievances

The establishment of the University of Luxembourg in 2003 has made it necessary for prospective teachers to attain a bachelor’s degree in educational science. This certification comes at the end of four years of study rather than three years, as was the case previously. The trade unions claim that the reform to educational law has simultaneously increased the workload of teachers, giving them more responsibilities and new challenges.

For several months, the trade unions have therefore been demanding that primary teachers’ jobs should be reclassified from the medium career level, at which recruitment is undertaken among applicants with secondary-level qualifications or upwards, to grade E6, corresponding to a higher career level. In addition, the trade unions have highlighted that teachers are paid less, compared with the salaries of other public sector employees with the same level of training.

Government seeks reforms for pay increase

During a meeting between the ministers concerned and the trade unions at the beginning of 2008, the government told the teachers’ unions that the increased length of training does not constitute grounds for a pay status upgrade. In light of the primary school education reform that is currently being prepared, such a pay upgrade is conditional on the assignment of new tasks and responsibilities in connection with the reform’s objectives. The planned reform includes the following aims, notably to:

• encourage parents’ involvement in school life;

• establish consultation in teaching teams;

• set up an evaluation system of pupils’ performance in terms of skills;

• intensify efforts to differentiate;

• encourage teachers to participate in the continuing training courses offered by the Ministry of National Education and Professional Training (Ministère de l’Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle).

Trade union view

The trade unions, who have made a series of concessions during the negotiation process, believe that the government’s demands are excessive. Such concessions include: the provision of an extra weekly lesson for a small group of pupils with learning difficulties; reclassification of teachers at a lower level than that demanded at the start; and agreeing to work the hours that have become necessary as a result of new tasks. Worker representatives point out that teaching entails continuous and unfailing engagement on the part of the teacher during classes. In addition, the classes require thorough preparation and the daily written homework and pupils’ compositions need to be corrected carefully.

Furthermore, the worker representatives also note that the volume of teaching in primary schools is already 50% more than that required on average for other teaching jobs. This situation also explains why primary teachers give few extra lessons. As is the case in post-primary teaching, the trade unions want the new tasks to be integrated into the current job specifications of teachers according to criteria to be determined, rather than simply adding them without any discussion on the matter. The trade unions believe that, ultimately, an excessive workload will lead to over-exertion and burnout or, in general, a lower quality of work.

Lack of consultation

In this tense climate, the adoption during a cabinet meeting of several Grand-Ducal bills in relation to school organisation – and hence teachers’ working conditions – without consulting teachers’ trade unions has also provoked reaction from teachers’ representatives. Previously, trade unions have always been closely involved in the preparation of draft laws and Grand-Ducal regulations, according to the National Union of Teachers (Syndicat National des Enseignants, SNE), affiliated to the General Public Sector Confederation (Confédération Générale de la Fonction Publique, CGFP), and the Education and Science Trade Union (Syndikat Erzéihung a Wëssenschaft, SEW), affiliated to the Luxembourg Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Onofhängege Gewerkschaftsbond Lëtzebuerg, OGB-L). Teachers’ representatives are alarmed by this new government approach, particularly as the legislation defining the status of public sector employees stipulates consultation and personnel representation from the drafting of the texts onwards.

Mediation last hope before strike action

The conciliation procedure that the parties entered into ended on 25 June 2008 with a continued stand-off. Faced with this situation, the teachers’ trade unions decided to call in a mediator, in the person of the President of the Council of State, Alain Meyer, in order to make use of the last option for which provision is made by law to avoid social conflict. If the mediation fails, the trade unions have warned that it is inevitable that teachers will go on strike. There is a risk that schools will remain closed for several days after the start of the school year on 1 September 2008.

Odette Wlodarski, Prevent