Conversation with Prime Minister Rutte about vague promises
The education unions and employers (including the AOb, CNV Education, PO Council, and VO Council) will talk to Prime Minister Rutte in mid-October about his statements at the General Political Reflections. The Prime Minister indicated there that some extra money for education may be available once, if a collective labor agreement is first concluded in primary education.
Image: Valerie Kuypers / National Government
“The Prime Minister's commitments were extremely vague, and bear no relation to the more than $ 400 million emergency package that workers and employers demanded for education as a whole earlier this year,” says AObchairman Liesbeth Verheggen. That extra money is badly needed, among other things to combat the teacher shortage in primary education. “We are no longer talking about four-day school weeks: the first school in Amsterdam today had to be closed completely - permanently - because there are no more teachers to be found. A terrible situation for the students, parents and staff. ”
Fence
Furthermore, Verheggen finds the statements of Prime Minister Rutte 'pure blackmail'. “In the Budget Memorandum not a cent extra has been made available for improving salaries and reducing the workload in education. So you let the king say that the teacher shortage is a dire problem, and then you throw that problem over the fence at the employers and employees. Where collective bargaining in primary education is at a standstill because there is too little money available for a decent wage increase. ”
