Officers kept their promise to stage protests

  • 2005-11-09
  • By Milda Seputyte
VILNIUS - Law enforcement officers, firemen and public servants staged a quiet protest in front of the government building and Parliament to demand what they claimed were outstanding salaries.
They warned that if politicians continue to disregard their demands, the protests would continue and eventually lead to a nationwide strike.


But during the Nov. 8 demonstration law enforcement trade unions repeated what they had been saying for many months: "We want our money back." The groups want to reclaim the outstanding portion of their salaries from the state and demand an increase in wages.

Some 20 police, customs, border guards, firemen and public servants gathered in front of the government's building in Vilnius.

Surprisingly, the protest was almost completely noiseless: the civil servants lined up and stood in silence, bringing all the more attention to their posters reading, "They have taken, they are taking, they will take."

"We want to retrieve what we have earned and what's not being given back. Secondly, we want to feel the welfare that we hear about and that we see on television," said Arturas Navaitis, deputy chairman of the internal affairs institution's trade union.

"Also, we look further into the future and don't want to see experienced people retiring so early," he said.

Rima Kiseliene, deputy chairman of Public Servant Trade Union, told journalists, "The government has taken from us, it's still taking and they promise to take away the money that we have honestly earned. The head of the government has turned his back on us, although we knocked on the door and attempted to find compromises."

Saulius Dziautas, head of the firemen's trade union, said, "The government still has an opportunity 's we are willing to sit down at the negotiation table. This way we can avoid further protests."

Discord between the government and public servants started two years ago when a new law regulating their wages came into force. The regulation reads that public servants would be paid less than their due salaries if municipalities failed to allocate the necessary funds for wages. Under this scheme, the country's police officers and other public servants lost some 3,000 's 5,000 litas (870 - 1,450 euros) of income each year.

The officers are currently demanding a refund for the portion of their salaries that went unpaid due to what they said is an illegitimate resolution.

So far the government has refused compensation.

The public servants' total debt is estimated at 180 million litas.

Former interrogator Tomas Vaitkunskas, now chairman of the pretrial investigation institution's trade union, told journalists that if the state continued disregarding the officers' problems "paper policemen" and "rubber firemen" would soon be charged with ensuring public safety.

The trade union promised to stage more protests in Vilnius. Several are scheduled for later this month, and more are expected to spread across the state.

They could be avoided if the government and trade unions negotiated, the protesters said.

So far, however, they still haven't received any official invitation to launch talks, Navaitis added.

The present scheme has prompted a number of officers to take up early retirement, since those who retire in 2006 will be paid less than those who give up work this year.

According to trade union representatives, some smaller towns are already lacking police officers and firemen due to the situation.

In one case a single fireman had to fight a fire in Lentvaris. In the Akmene region, there are only three police officers employed.

Last December, the Constitutional Court ruled that the government's resolution contradicted legal principles, and that the salaries in question should not be lower than the amount due. The country's highest court said that, having performed his assignment, a public servant could not be deprived of remuneration and the Constitution protected his rights to receive money owed.