Education and Science Employees’ Union to consider demanding Kilis’ resignation

Mar 22, 2013

RIGA - The council of Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees will have a meeting with Education and Science Minister Roberts Kilis next week to discuss the minister's failure to observe his cooperation memorandum with the union, after which the union will consider further action up to demanding the minister's resignation.

The Education and Science Employees' Union wants to find out the minister's opinion about the Education and Science Ministry's alleged decision not to request additional budget funds for implementation of the reforms laid down in the cooperation memorandum and teachers' salaries in 2014-2016 - which is confirmed in a copy of a letter that Kilis has sent to Finance Minister Andris Vilks (Unity) that the union has obtained, as the union's public relations officer Edgars Grigorjevs told LETA.

The Education and Science Employees' Union also hopes to have a meeting with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) in the near future. "There is a sea of problems: there is no effective social dialog taking place about vitally important matters to the sector, the work of task forces set up by the ministry is not efficient, and the ministry's legislative work is slow - we have noted all of this in the past, but we will not tolerate that the cooperation memorandum is not being observed," emphasizes the union's chairwoman Ingrida Mikisko.

The union's meeting with Kilis is scheduled for next Wednesday, March 27.

The Education and Science Ministry says though that the union's claims are unfounded and that the ministry will seek additional funds for education and science.

Likewise, the March 27 meetings with Kilis was agreed upon already in mid-February already and is nothing extraordinary as the Education and Science Employees' Union would like the public to believe, Kilis' advisor Inita Blacforda told LETA.

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