During a protest and picketing event on Thursday, teachers who staff the supportive educational programs of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, members of the trade unions OEKDY SEK and PASEY PEO asked for security of their jobs.
Outside the Ministry of Education, teachers protested holding banners with slogans such as "No to the inhumane pedagogical restructuring", "We demand security of our jobs", "We demand job security" and shouted "No, no, unemployment no more mockery" and "Fight, fight, permanent fight is the answer to the Minister of Education".
The General Secretary of PASEY PEO, Andreas Kounnis, stated that "we are here today in a twenty-four-hour strike and with a symbolic protest-work stop to send a clear and unambiguous message to the Minister of Education, but also in all directions that we will not allow workers to be victimized who suffered a brutal haircut of their rights".
He said that these teachers for a decade suffered "working middle ages" and at the end of the day they will be faced with unemployment. He added that the protest is the beginning, pointing out that "we will give all our strength so that no colleague remains unemployed, as long as we can. And at the negotiating table and on the streets and wherever else it is needed, we will be here." Mr. Kounnis stated that the Minister of Education and the Government should assume their responsibilities and requested that what was said before the elections be implemented.
"We demand the guarantee of all jobs in the twelve supporting programs for which they have signed a collective agreement. No one should be unemployed and even the programs that are with the purchase of services should be abolished, such as the Special Intervention Team in schools," he said.
Mr. Kounnis expressed the guild's readiness for a dialogue with a timetable for a definitive resolution of the whole issue. "We are in a good mood, we hope that the Minister also receives the messages. This is the beginning, if we don't listen today," he said.
The General Secretary of OEKDY SEK, George Konstantinou, for his part, stated that "we are here today to declare our determination to defend the jobs that belong to these workers who fought for ten whole years to abolish the market services, an illegal status, as has been proven in the courts and by decision of the Director of Social Insurance".
"We did not fight for so many years to give the jobs to some others" said Mr. Constantinou and added that the determination is declared. "We will by all means continue our fight to defend the jobs of each colleague and we are ready to discuss to find ways to improve the programs to offer more and better training for the good of both trainees and workers in these programs," he said.
"We are claiming the most sacred right, the right to work," said Mr. Constantinou and indicated that the strike concerns 1200 workers in the supportive educational programs of the Ministry of Education.
Demonstrators stated, among other things, that "we have been working for over fifteen years and at this moment we are asking for our labor rights because we are in a desperate situation". They expressed their concern about the possibility of being led to unemployment, calling on the Minister of Education to intervene and provide solutions. They also stated that "it is unacceptable for the Minister to bow to the demands of a particular educational organization and the reason we are here today is to secure our jobs".
The two unions had decided to take strike measures for today, Thursday, in a session which took place after a meeting with the Minister of Education, Athina Michailidou, with whom the issue of the future employment of those already employed for many years in the Ministry's supportive educational programs was discussed Education, Sports and Youth.
In the announcement issued by the two unions, they noted that the Minister "avoided taking a clear position on the issue of continuing the employment of those already serving in the programs" and that, she said, "does not accept any dialogue with a timetable".
OEKDY SEK and PASEY PEO added that "the whole attitude of the Minister of Education leads to a gnawing of time until the end of the school year so that there is no possibility of dynamic reactions to defend the jobs". Therefore, "the Minister left no other choice to protect the jobs of the workers, who in the last ten years suffered labor exploitation by purchasing services, violation of their rights and experienced the working middle ages", the announcement concludes.
Source: KYPE