The President of the Federation of Education Unions “Spiru Haret”, Marius Nistor, says on Thursday that it is possible that certain instigators have infiltrated the groups of teachers, some even politically motivated, and announces that he has asked his colleagues to be aware of such situations and messages. “I categorically ask that any external intervention, any political intervention be firmly rejected,” he told his colleagues, stating that there are some who would like to take advantage of this movement. “We constantly asked our colleagues to pay attention to something like this,” Nistor said, quoted by News.ro.
Marius Nistor was asked, on Thursday, on Antena 3, if there are agitators among his colleagues and he said: “There might be. I have no way of knowing. I can’t control it. Allow me, I can’t control what appears on the Facebook groups, on the teachers’ groups. I try to start from good faith, discussing clearly with our union leaders and with our union members and categorically ask them that any external intervention, any political intervention be firmly rejected. We do not accept such a thing in any form”.
Asked if political interventions were attempted in the current protest, Nistor stated: “I have no way of knowing. It seems that some would like to take advantage of this movement. We asked our colleagues to be attentive to such a thing”.
“The prolongation of the negotiations led to the amplification of legitimate grievances”
Marius Nistor stated that the union leaders can only negotiate with the authorities on behalf of the unionists, based on a mandate, and there is no question of the leaders controlling the teachers or having lost control of the masses. Nistor says there was a mandate to negotiate, but the prolongation of the talks led to growing discontent among unionists, and what seemed acceptable at one point later became unacceptable.
He was asked if the union leaders complained in the discussions with the authorities that they could no longer control the teachers and he answered: “Nobody complained about anything. What we all need to understand is this: there was a certain negotiating mandate. Prolonging the negotiations over a long period led to the amplification of the legitimate grievances of our colleagues, so that their expectations became much higher. In the conditions where the expectations are higher, I personally requested a new mandate from my colleagues to come and clearly establish the new limit within which I can negotiate”.
Nistor specified that he discussed with all the leaders in the country, with the leaders of the organizations and “the entrusted mandate was to implement the salary scale negotiated with the Ministry of Education as quickly as possible”.
“I had a mandate, I received that press release from the Government in which it was stipulated what measures the Government is going to take. The respective information was sent to the territory and our colleagues said very clearly that we do not accept these measures. That’s what it’s about. No leader accepted anything,” added Marius Nistor.
He explained that he got here because of some inappropriate things said at certain moments, but also because the discussions went on for a long time.
“I told you, the extension of the negotiations…sometimes, inappropriate things, said at inappropriate times, which disturbed the teaching staff and not only, led from the start to the amplification of the state of tension and to an increase in the dissatisfaction of colleagues in the system, dissatisfaction legitimate. And, at some point, we reached the situation where what seemed reasonable in a certain period is no longer acceptable now and colleagues are always right. We cannot be against our colleagues”, he also declared to the Federation of Trade Unions in Education “Spiru Haret”.
Asked if the leaders had lost control of the masses, Nistor said: “It’s not about controlling the masses. The union leader is not a boss, especially in education. The union leader must express the will of the union members. This is what we are talking about. I’m not going to give orders…”.
Asked if the leaders complained that they could no longer control the teachers, Nistor stated: “It’s not about being controlled, I don’t control the teachers. It’s not about losing control, it’s about what I’m negotiating on their behalf. I received a mandate, yes, the mandate was partially fulfilled, I presented them with the results, they clearly said that it was insufficient and set the limits of a new mandate”.
He added that union leaders can only do what their colleagues ask: “So I can’t do anything but what my colleagues want. Once again, it is not a strike by an individual, it is a strike by our colleagues. They alone are in a position to say what is acceptable.”
On Thursday, the government approved the ordinance establishing salary increases in education, with 1,000 gross lei for teaching staff and 400 gross lei for non-teaching staff. The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, gave three examples of salaries that teachers will have, depending on their experience.
Editor : A.C.
