Skopje, 20 April 2022 (MIA) — Despite teachers’ insisting on the same 18.4-percent raises that minimum wage workers have recently received, Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri said he expected from the Education, Science and Culture Workers’ Union to accept the governmental offer of 10-percent raises — after the national budget was rebalanced — and to halt the teachers’ strike, he told reporters Wednesday. According to Minister Shaqiri, union members should stop striking while continuing negotiations with government officials toward better pay. If their reason for refusing the 10-percent raises was that the offer was given verbally, he said, now they should accept it as it had been put in writing at the government’s session Tuesday. “I hope they make a decision in the interest of the children,” Shaqiri said. “Despite their disagreement with the situation, I expect them to hold classes while we continue the negotiations, although we disagree on some points.” Should the strike continue, the Ministry of Education would consider all legal possibilities to resume classes in schools, he said. Urging teachers to go back to work, Shaqiri reminded them of the consequences of the covid pandemic on students and of upcoming education deadlines, such as graduation and enrollment. He also asked for their understanding, saying that “we are in one of the largest crises affecting the national budget.” Meanwhile, he noted, some striking teachers, despite their discontent with the government's offer, had voluntarily resumed classes in the interest of their students. He also said that immediately after the budget was rebalanced to provide for the proposed 10-percent raises for teachers, “the social dialogue and cooperation” with the union members would continue toward developing a collective agreement adjusting teachers’ salaries in line with the growth of the national minimum wage. At its Tuesday session, the government instructed the Ministries of Education and Science and of Labor and Social Policy to see to it that the striking teachers’ salaries were paid according to legal provisions. Shaqiri said the union members should have been notified of these legal provisions by the organizers of the strike. “Speaking of their salaries,” the education minister told reporters, “there will have to be a legal basis for paying them. “I have said this several times. If the union has a legal solution for this, the legislative institutions will consider the possibilities. “The members’ anger should be directed at the [union’s] leadership, so they can consider the legal basis of their demands. We, as institutions, will always abide by the law,” Shaqiri said. The nationwide teachers' strike is in its second week after the Education, Science and Culture Workers' Union rejected the government’s verbal offer of 10-percent raises for teachers. In response, the government said striking teachers would not get paid except for their compulsory social insurance contributions. Previously, in response to the teachers’ demands, the government said their salaries had already been increased since 2017 by 21 percent, with teachers now earning between Mden 24,786 [EUR 402] and Mden 25,642 [EUR 416] per month. Teachers nationwide began striking for higher pay on April 11. They are demanding 18.4-percent raises, in line with the recent national minimum wage being increased to 18,000 denars [EUR 292]. mr/