Tíðindi

Negotiations between the Pedagogue Union and its employers, municipal trade union KAF and the finance ministry, have broken down.

This has prompted the Pedagogue Union to announce a strike for all its members.

A statement issued by the union yesterday reads as follows:

“As the employers appears to be avoiding negotiations, we have no other option but to announce industrial action for all our members working in municipal and state positions.

The strike will also apply to members working in independent institutions that are partly or wholly funded by municipal or state budgets.

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We have come to the conclusion that the employers are showing no interest in solving this great societal problem and instead choose to focus on small figures on an Excel spreadsheet.

Our staff shortage is a challenge which affects both parties in these talks and which requires cooperation between both parties.

We have made great sacrifices in our efforts to reach a settlement, while the employers continue to cling on to small and inconsequential percentages.

It saddens us that the employers, rather than taking this problem seriously, continue to drag out the negotiations. Since our members witness these challenges every day, we know the full extent of the problem and what is required to make pedagogical work an attractive proposition for young people and to retain those people who chose this vocation. This is the main problem – a problem which the employers seem entirely unwilling to help solve.

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For these reasons, we now announce a strike covering the entire pedagogical contract area. This means that all members of the Pedagogue Union will take up strike action starting on Monday morning. These members include staff at municipal daycare centres, recreational centres, youth centres, Social Services institutions, pre-schools, private independent schools, regular schools [fólkaskúlin] and independent institutions.

Exceptions will be made to areas within the Social Services where life and health are at risk.

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We are saddened by the employers’ continued unwillingness to cooperate on improving the problems regarding the high staff turnover in this field of work.

A higher staff retention rate is crucial for providing quality pedagogical services to the citizens and children served by our members.

We therefore hope that our intensified measures will bring the employers back to the negotiation table.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

(KvF)