ZAGREB, December 2, 2019 – Member of parliament Nikola Grmoja of the opposition MOST party said on Monday that the current chaos in the country, caused by the strike of primary and secondary school teachers, was due to the conduct of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who started negotiating with the striking teachers’ unions only on Sunday, the 35th day of the strike.
“This is the longest strike ever, it has lasted for 36 days and the chaos in the country is due to Prime Minister Plenković who has removed the education minister from the negotiations, assuming responsibility. The minister is not taking part in the efforts to solve the problem. She is practically not there and she is responsible for the non-implementation of the reform,” Grmoja told a news conference.
Grmoja stressed that talks on the job complexity index, which had been crucial for the striking teachers from the beginning, started only on Sunday evening and that the strike could have been ended long ago had the negotiations started earlier.
“That did not happen because of the prime minister’s irresponsibility and arrogance and that’s why we have a state of emergency which is affecting children, parents and the entire education system,” said Grmoja.
Describing the wage system as utterly unfair, Grmoja said the government had consistently delayed regulating that issue because it lacked the courage to do so, recalling that his party has been insisting for three years on changing the current wage system, introducing rewards for competent workers and penalties for those not doing their job, and reducing state administration and abolishing counties.
More MOST news can be found in the Politics section.
