Indefinite teachers strike in Slovakia has started

Thanks jura for explanation. I think you are basically right. I wil add just a few corrections/opinions.

As for the number of schools it is not completely clear as there are counted also "school facilities" (sorry for not being able to find a better translation, I hope jura will step in;)). So there are 5k+ schools and altogether you get 7k+.

ISU has no politics in the sense of political stances. Different people in the strike committee (more than 25 people!) have their different ideas. The aims are basically economic, not political and as ISU they try their best not to be sucked into the pre-election politicing and keep their independence. Personally, I think you would find basically all political sentiments within the ISU members (luckily except extreme/nationalist right;)), as you would probably expect. Simply, most of the people aren't politically profiled.

The only disagreement I have with jura is the analysis of the situation in Eastern Slovakia. I think that the reason for pretty low participation in the strike is not that the teachers there are pro-Smer (the ruling "soc-dem" party). There are rather economic and cultural reasons. First and foremost - the unemployment rates in the East and a real fear that they will lose their jobs. As has been proven during the pre-strike period (and still continues), the attack on the workers and their right to strike was most intense and mostly reported from Eastern Slovakia. Even the representative of the biggest education workers union in that region openly told people that it is wrong to participate in this strike. So, yes, Eastern Slovakia is a stronghold of Smer, but there are other factors that play, in my opinion, stronger role.

As for the limits. I am not sure if this word is correct to use. Sounds a bit patronizing to me and I am not sure if it is useful, but I would not say there is a "line" that is followed in ISU. And it is also important to distinguish between personal opinions of the ISU members (for example in their blogs) and what comes out signed by ISU as such. Currently there is no line "we know where the money is, so give it to us". On the other hand, there is also no line saying "let's not tell them, where to get that money". Do you know what I mean? It is a movement, it lives, but what is completely clear here and now is that it is a movement for more money and better conditions.

I basically agree with what you say (or mean;)), so just one comment to the limits issue. My point of view is rather practical. That is, what can be done here and now, and not what the "theory" says. That is how I view the reality and that is why my impression is that the limits perspective is quite useless, because it simply has no power in reality and over what is being created in that reality. Let's say occupying schools would be a good idea. But is it doable in the given state of things, in the given conditions, in the given reality? Of course, we should never limit:) ourselves by saying some things are impossible. But the real question seems to me is "what is really possible?". This may sound like the same thing, but I don't think it is.

Updates as of Wednesday evening:

* The number of schools that want to talk to the ISU teachers has risen rapidly. There is an appeal on the ISU website that ISU will visit any school if invited. The visits have been going on for some time already on a daily basis (either from the initiative of the workers who do not strike yet or by the way of personal contacts of the teachers from ISU) but the number of invitations is rising now.

* Most of the actions take place in Bratislava (which is a very strong center of the country, not only economically), but other towns are planning their own actions as well.

* Local demos are planned in mid- and eastern Slovakia.

* Initiative of the parents was formed in Bratislava that wants to inspire parents to form something similar as ISU (a network of local parents' initiatives). Among the forms of support that they promote is also a call to the parents stop sending their kids to schools.

* Several bookshops, cafes and even wine bars or massage centers offered free meeting places and/or free or discount prices on their products for the (striking) teachers in some towns. For example, a theatre in Žilina offers free entrance to teachers and family members. The same goes for a music festival that will take place in Bratislava next weekend.

* There are other events that took or will take place soon in different towns - visiting seniors, Critical Mass, cooking meals for homeless, public debates, hiking trips, public meetings with parents, cleaning public spaces/environment, blood donations... All with participation and/or from the initiative of the people around ISU.

* Some schools ended the strikes, some have started. Hard to say the numbers now and hard to predict what will happen after the first week, but there are already schools that say they will start their strikes next week.

You can see the list of all the events on the ISU main page, just scroll down and perhaps try googletranslate.

Entdinglichung

is the CP involved? and what about the Hungarian speaking areas?

CP meaning Communist Party? They degraded to irrelevancy years ago.

As for the Hungarian speaking areas. There is an association of Hungarian teachers that has been proposing their own demands for a longer time. They are related to the schools with Hungarian as their first language and their main issue is that the number of hours devoted to studying the Hungarian language in the first year is 5 as opposed to 9 hours of Slovak language at Slovak schools. They asked ISU for support and after one of the strike committee members spoke in a radio show positively about this issue the number of striking schools in the Hungarian speaking areas has risen (mostly in the western part of Slovakia). They also came to the demo on Monday and the issue was mentioned during the speeches.

To add to what Jura said - The thing is that some things are obviously more in the media and some not. Like for example visiting schools on a daily basis. And I wouldn't say not unsuccessfully at all. So that's triple negative on the positive note from me:)

jura

Also MT, you forgot to mention THEY'RE MEETING THE PRESIDENT TOMORROW;)

Yes, you are right, I didn't notice it in the events part of the website when I prepared the list. Honestly, I don't think they see this meeting as something promising or extra meaningful. It is rather one of the events among many. Basically, a media stunt.

Update:

* A petition was started by a unionist from a school in a small town in mid-Slovakia from the OZPSaV union (he is a chairman of that union in the school). OZPSaV is the biggest union in education sector. In 2012 they stopped their strike after 3 days which gave birth to independent rolling strikes which basically gave birth to what we know today as ISU:) It seems that this union rep has no ties to the higher union bureaucracy so it could be an honest attempt to break the disgusting position of the OZPSaV whose leader said that the strike is legal and will not stop members from taking part (while their other functionaries openly told workers that getting involved makes no sense plus tons of other bullshit) but at the same time said nothing encouraging or really pro-strike. So this union rep started a petition for the OZPSaV members and reps stating that the union cannot stand apart from its members who face intimidation during the strike and very bad wage conditions in general. That is on the positive note. The not so positive part of the petition (potentially) could be the demand for the union to step in and negotiate the solution to the unsustainable situation of the workers. Btw., OZPSaV signed a collective agreement last year and claim that they cannot strike because of it. They use this as a justification for their official "neutral" position. And some of their members are obviously pissed off about this.

There might be something in the Collective Agreement Act.

That is of course another thing. And they also have the option to tell their individual members that yeah, go on or just take part in the strike outside the union structure. It is a constitutional (individual) right and it is a strike according to the constitution, so it is quite clear that the union doesn't bother. Or perhaps they try to persuade people that they cannot read laws:) It is up to the reader to guess what is more probable.

Updates for the next week:

• Next week local demos and meetings continue to be held in different parts of Slovakia.

• Meetings with teachers in the regions will continue as well, now with more participation from the local initiatives taking care of their own regions instead of people from IBU (Bratislava “branch” of ISU, the initiators of the movement) travelling there. So far, the effects of the meetings were quite good, mobilizing the teachers to not only meet regarding the strike movement at their own schools as teachers collectives for the first time but even agreeing on taking action and joining the strike in the next days.

• On Monday, there will be “human chains” in almost 15 towns to symbolize dissatisfaction with the situation in education sector.

• A strike support happening in Bratislava is organized on Tuesday by university students.

• Also, there will be an emergency meeting of the Education Committee on Tuesday. It is one of the expert committees that are part of the National Council (parliament). The chairman of the OZPSaV union will participate as well as ISU teachers.

Most of these actions are of course clearly understood as media stunts to keep the strike visible in the media.

More news from this week:

• Daily videosummaries during the working week were created where news from the current day is summarized by someone from ISU. Mostly it’s a visual version of the newsletter that is received by thousands of teacher subscribers during the working week.

• A video was created in Ruthene language for teachers in the eastern part of Slovakia where Ruthene minority leaves mostly and which is the only region where almost no school has taken part in the strike so far.

• A guy set up a website for collecting money for the teachers who can’t afford to strike. It is done in quite an interesting way (so far the best one that could function with least obstacles to my opinion) but the whole idea of having a strike fund is not very welcome in ISU for several reasons.

I guess most of the things were already said in updates earlier this week. I will comment on jura in a separate post later today.

Comments on jura’s posts:

• Number of striking teachers

The numbers are falling down, which is not a big surprise I would say. Still, they are quite high and way above initial expectations. The numbers could rise a bit again in next days, as there are several schools that will join on Tuesday. Of course, if the numbers continue to decline, it could have a psychological effect on part of the teachers but that is something one can hardly do anything about. The number of closed schools reported by the ministry is nonsense, of course. What they do is that they make calls to regions and ask if the school is closed: yes/no? So, as jura pointed out, their statistics obviously miss the schools that are open but where for example only a few classes with younger pupils are taught and the school is in fact severely crippled by the strike.

• Media outputs

I would be very cautious to draw any conclusions from what is said in the media either by experts, parents or ISU teachers. The information and messages tend to be either generalized or mentioned in bits that prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. The perception of the public can be manifold. I have no clue what people think about it, except that it is a fact that the strike enjoys extraordinary support compared to the other strikes/protests in the past. But even this view could be distorted, because, we are surrounded by people in a very specific region (Bratislava) and have no way of knowing what is the “public opinion” in other towns and in my opinion social media is not a good indicator of whatever.

• Education system analysis/critique

ISU has no position on this except that it is bad and should be improved first by fulfilling their (mostly wage/economic) demands. What could be done next is a completely different thing and people can here and there talk about it, but again it is not a good indicator for any conclusions on this topic with regard to the strike. I believe that the debates in different towns are partly about this topic, but this is just to say that we can’t make judgements based on any TV or other outputs that we see/hear. Even more when there can be bits here and there which represent individual opinion of a speaker (it is hard to avoid it sometimes, as ISU teachers are simply active teachers, not experts on how to speak in the media).

• Better system or more money on a payslip

Jura mentions the potential issue of not speaking about money but about better future for our children in general. The general public good is a catch-phrase, of course. A simple idea that you can put on posters, say to media, anywhere. The general agreement is that this strike is basically about money. But of course, the teachers are not happy about the education system as such. So we can think about this from the psychological perspective. You are pissed off, work in bad environment, are underpaid and now you have to say something to the public that you think will be the most to the point thing. If you say system, you mean the money as well. If you say money, you mean the system as well. So how would you communicate this to different publics? I guess the answer is that different approaches would be taken. It is something that we can be critical about. But first of all, who gives a fuck about what we are critical of on libcom:) and second, given the movement that was created and the history in Slovakia I would rather maintain the optimistic note and appreciate that the whole thing has not turned into “future for our children no matter the wages” yet;)

As for who should make a change. Well, despite some mentions of where to find the money, I think there is no real consensus that the striking workers should be the ones to do it. I pointed it our already and have no reason to change my opinion. The strike and its continuation is the major task of ISU which they are working on with their (seriously limited) resources. We should keep this in mind.

• Lessons

Jura gives some advice on what the movement should do better or what the future movements should do better. As for the alliances, ISU has no alliances except for the nurses (which is a rather symbolic one). It is an independent network. They received help by different individuals or organizations but I certainly would not use term “alliances” or “affiliations” (although I am not really sure what is meant by this).

As for spokespersons, well it is not about “choosing them” it is about the fact that the day has 24 hours and the number of people in ISU is limited. People are overworked and sometimes you even can’t find anyone to go here or there to talk to either other workers or media. As for the political class that should be criticized, perhaps I don’t understand but from what I read and hear, there doesn’t seem to be a different message than that all the governments just screw the teachers. Sure, it is 5 weeks to parliamentary elections, so people find anti-SMER sentiments in this but I don’t think ISU can be blamed for that.

As for the way to connect to the public, that is a tricky thing. First and foremost, you’d have to define the public. Is it someone watching TV, someone reading newspapers or media, parents at the meetings, teachers at the meetings, workers writing tons of emails to ISU etc.? And it should be mentioned that the wage issues are generally accepted in this strike, by all parties, including the government. But if you mean conservative workers who just whine about how things are bad and say that what the teachers earn is more than they do or for example that they don’t deserve it (or whatever other stupid idea), then this is quite hard to really “communicate”, mostly for a simple reason, it does not really appear as an issue at the meetings etc. where it would require a specific response. At least this is my impression that the wage claim is something of a common sense. So, I agree, some things are easier said than done and I think that ISU are well aware of most of these things and generally of their “limits”.

• Teachers-nurses alliance

In terms of the teachers-nurses alliance, yes, not much has been done in practical terms. None of the sides proposed anything else than the common statement of support. Do you have any ideas that you would propose?

• What next?

That is the question that is on the table and discussed (including topics that you mention plus more).

• Possible repression

As for the wave of repression, personally I find it not very likely that it could happen thanks to a swift and radical public response to the first intimidation cases. And even if this happens, I think thanks to this response the affected teachers will know where to ask for support. Also, it is not so easy to fire a teacher :)

Let’s see what the next week brings.

Do you have any ideas that you would propose?

That was a serious question because clearly ISU doesn't know how to use it more to their advantage.

I will not comment on other things, as I would just repeat myself. I am surprised that you found offenses in my post, none were intended. Sorry for that anyway.

Hi libcom newcomer;)

I don't have enough information to really judge the factor of age composition. Did you see any statistics that you could share?

What exactly do you mean by "there is a likelihood that the share of teachers awaiting their pensions in much higher in the East than in the West"? That they don't feel the need to strike when it is all over for them soon?

As for the mixed-income couples, yes, this is very common in Bratislava (mostly woman-teacher, man-the "real earner" in the family). But again, this is just observations which can be misleading without some help of statistics. I wouldn't like to claim that this mixed-income couples factor is not present by some miracle in the eastern Slovakia. I mean if you look at the map of strike participation, the Ruthene region is something that hits the eye, so does it mean the Ruthenes don't live in mixed-couples? Just joking, but you know what I mean. Plus there is another thing - it is easier to have two jobs in Bratislava than in any other place in Slovakia (and many teachers do have second jobs).

As for the continuity with 2012 - yes, the continuity is there. For example almost half of the strike committtee members are those who were among the most active teachers in the rolling strikes of December 2012. Their ways parted after 2012 (some joined the professional teachers organization SKU, most just stopped being active in the teachers cause) but met again in autumn 2015 and what is going on now is the result;)

Without demographic data we can just guess. First of all, average age si most probably high also in other regions. By observation you could see this also in Bratislava. You have a few of young teachers and then a few of pre-pension ones. And then you have a lot of those over 40-50. Now take an abstract school in other regions - it will be most probably 2, 3 or more times smaller but the age composition might be pretty much the same. I don't mean to say it is like that, I just would like to point out to this as a possibility that should prevent us from making wrong conclusions without data. To back this up a little more, take the composition based on school subjects. Let me mention a concrete example from a concrete school that is related to IT subjects but could be partly seen also in English subjects. You have a school where IT is taught by young teacher, he/she is dissatisfied and leaves. Another young teacher is hired and it goes the same trajectory. And then an older teacher is hired (perhaps coming from other parts of Slovakia) and doesn't leave. So what you get is that the average age rises. The fluctuation factor makes the analysis even more complicated.

Then, the average income - that is the case in everywhere outside Bratislava region, isn't it? But there is also the factor of average costs, which are lower outside Bratislava.

As for the idea of small demos outside non-striking schools, this idea is there from the beginning of the strike emergency but has not been implemented fully so far (or to the extent that we all would probably wish). This is a negative thing but there are also reasons for it, mostly human capacities (I mean, it is not that the ISU wouldn't want it).

I see what you mean by the averages, but I am not truly convince. Also, the numbers on the map that you mention have already been criticized for its strange methodology.

Anyway, it is not only statistic data that could help us understand why eastern region is so "strikeless". At this tage I am afraid only a serious field research based on interviews with teachers living there could bring us closer to the answer. Because for example take the region around Rimavska Sobota (27,42 % unemployment rate in December 2015). How is this region different to eastern Slovakia? And the strike affected several schools there (both in towns and villages). And other marginalized regions like Orava and Kysuce? Perhaps we could see some hints when closely looking at the results of last elections (parliamentary and regional) in all those regions.

Let's take into consideration one more thing again. It might not answer our questions (I really believe only the interviews would) but could be valuable. Concrete example - a few ISU teachers visited last week a school some 20 km's from Bratislava (as part of visiting schools that are not on strike but either have someone who contacted ISU to come or there are people who know some teachers and proactively contacted them if there is an interest to come and hear what ISU has got to say). The result was that the majority of the school joined the strike and even started their own local activities! Why only after the visit? Because the teachers in that school only met for the first time as a collective at the assembly. Until then, they were isolated, atomized individuals. Of course, I am not trying to say that people in eastern part of Slovakia don't meet and discuss things collectively, but add another example to this - intimidation. In Humenne (one of the key towns of north-eastern Slovakia) there were reports of intimidation coming from authorities (I think it came from the mayor, who is a high-ranking SMER member and an MP in the parliament) and no school joined the strike. Perhaps if this town joined, it could be a reference point for others to talk about. So, perhaps no-one wants to be the first now. I don't know if this idea really helps, but I guess it is good to mention it.

As for the planning. Before ISU there was IBU (Initiative of Bratislava teachers). Thanks to the events that started in October (happenings, blood donations etc.) more locals were formed and when they were I think 3-4 they decided to create ISU as a sort of umbrella, keeping the locals their autonomy. However, most of the strike committee members are from Bratislava.

Ehm, cadres:) I think it was clear from the beginning that everyone to the east of Bratislava:) will see situation a little bit different than teachers in Bratislava. As teachers started to join but there was still no activity in Košice (second biggest town in Slovakia) or Prešov, it was clear that something has to be done there. That is why strike committee members tried to do what they could to get contacts in Košice and eventually went there (twice) and local initiatives were formed in Košice as well as in Prešov at last. And some schools even joined the strike in Košice despite heavy intimidation.

Good post jura and it is very nice to read about how you felt at the events. There is a lot of these amazing transformatory effects. And as for today's "human chains" in I guess 14 towns in Slovakia (which might have seemed to us just as media stunts) judging from the reactions (in several towns) it is clear that they had a great psychological/emotional effect. Check out video from Košice in Korzar for what I believe would be more nice impressions;)

I just would like to remind that we cannot judge things based on what is in the media.

Updates:

* Around 200 teachers met in front of the parliament and made noise in support of the ISU delegates that went to the meeting of the Education Committee. As predicted, the minister basically refuted all the topics that were discussed.

* At 17.00 there was a happening organized by university students. I have to say it was pretty boring (I guess because of how it was handled - a speech by someone, 2 songs by some musician - a speech - a musician...). This rapidly changed at the end, when several members of the strike committee went on stage and gave very good speeches in terms of the general mood. It was morale boosting and fun, so finally the impression from those almost 2 hours was quite nice. I read in some media, that 2500 students came. I would say a lot less.

* At 19.00 a debate was organized with a member of ISU strike committee, head of the association of privately owned schools and someone from some NGO or think-thank (sorry for my ignorance). There were bits that I didnt't like much (like the ISU person saying that she personally is a right-winger, as if someone cared...) but the general impression was quite nice. The most critical topics like rationalization of the system (cuts in number of schools or teachers to make the system more effective) were refused by ISU representative saying that quite contrary the fewer the pupils in the class the better and also that the demographic development goes contrary to this idea. Also, all parties agreed that the pay rise is something necessary to make the miserable life of teachers bearable. The ISU representative said that the strike is not about the wages, but this once again points out to what I mentioned earlier that the majority of the debate was exactly about how crucial the wage hikes are:) The event was moderated by a well- known right-wing columnist who I was told wrote anti-doctors articles when they gave mass notices few years ago. Another example of how right-wingers turn pro-strike suddenly when they see that the strike plays well into their anti-SMER pre-election agenda (although I think there are more factors to this). At the end of the event the moderator said that the resources are limited and simply cannot be given to everyone to which the ISU representative said for example that there is a billion € to be spent on coal mines while these money could be used for example for the miners to re-qualify and there still will be a lot of money left for other things. (This reminded me what Greenpeace Slovakia suggested - a life-long wage for the fired miners and closure of the mines instead of further mining). Personally I expected much worse response, so I am not the best person to comment on this but on the other hand there was a clear answer to other similar topic - what the striking teachers propose to improve the system - saying that this is not up to the teachers to tell the government what to do.

* The number of striking teachers continues to decline, but is still above 8000.

* There is a new wave of invitations to schools that do not strike yet. At least in Bratislava region this number is reaching the ISU limits as for the capacities to really cover that.

* And yes, the visits and teacher meetings are done on daily basis from the beginning of the strike, perhaps with the exception of the first day (plus there were such meetings also before the strike).

By the way, there is a demo in London in front of the Slovak Embassy:
25 Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QY (https://www.facebook.com/events/1713640515520624/)
It is organized by Slovaks living/studying in London if I understood it correctly. They say that banners, balloons, candles or whatever visible is welcome. It is meant especially for Slovaks showing support to what is going in Slovakia but I don't think they would kick out anyone else. A report from London by a libcomer, would be nice, so that we don't rely only on media reports;)

I guess around noon there was a joint press conference of ISU committee representatives and representatives of the professional and union organizations that organized the mass notices of nurses and midwives. They demand that an emergency meeting of parliament is called, so that acts to improve the wages of nurses and midwises (as a starting point) and wages of the teachers (and other demands) are implemented before the elections. ISU called for such a meeting already some days ago and now they did it once again with the representatives of nurses and widwives.

Edit: ISU member said at the press conference that there is still 200 schools that are closed or severely crippled by the strike.

It seems that the opposition parties agreed to call an emergency parliamentary meeting. (Which was later described by the prime minister as "another feud without any possibility to agree on financial decisions")

The prime minister just said in the special press conference (called "the final statement of the government regarding the strike") that he thanks the majority of the teachers who did not strike and declared for the millionth time that they will raise wages by 25% in next 4 years if they be those who form the government. Plus he tried to frame the future debate on possible further pre-election actions that it is simply an opposition affair. He just repeated the same line that has been told by the government so far. The only change is that it was wrapped as "the final statement":)

Entdinglichung

jura

The use of "flying pickets" (well, sort of) is bearing some fruit: yesterday, in Banská Bystrica (central Slovakia, pop. 80k), 15 striking teachers turned up outside the building of a high school to sing "Gaudeamus Igitur", a traditional academic song used at graduation ceremonies, to taunt their colleagues who are not on strike. The school had been in limited operation, so at that time (10:30), the final class was about to end. About a hundred students then came out to meet the singing teachers.

funny, in Germany, Gaudeamus Igitur is mostly sung by student fraternities (which are mostly rightwing and always elitist), can't imagine the song becoming part of emancipatory protest culture there

I think it is just a matter of a tradition and the lyrics are simply interpreted as a homage to the academy/teachers. But who knows, I never understood why people sing this thing:)

what what?:)

I was given a word that something will be written here, but you know how it is with fairytale creatures that forget their passwords:)

And check out the statements of ISU and IVU (latest three pieces in the Press releases section on www.isu.sk - in Slovak only). I recommend especially the video version because it contains also questions from the media.

A happening was called for today at Námestie SNP square in Bratislava city center. It was meant to be a kind of "thank you" event to celebrate the ending of the strike and its continuity in regards to the university teachers. Compared to the previous students demo this was much better in terms of general mood, speeches and numbers (I would say there was at least as many people as on the first demo, when the strike was announced).

There was an idea on Facebook by some parents to organize marches to the city center and I think 4 city quarters joined. I took part in one of the marches of parents, teachers, students and people from the neighbourhood. It started after a speech of one of the parents (an independent local (civic activist) politician as I was told later) that I have to say was very touching and there were even tears on some faces (it was a homage to the teachers who stood up and said that they are not satisfied with things and took action). A crowd of slightly more than 100 people then walked approximately 5 kilometres to the city center and grew to about 130 by the time we reached the square with a main banner simply saying "Thank you, teachers. A march in support of the teachers". To be honest, I did not expect such a big number of people in the march. I also did not expect the number of people already in the square (my guess would be about 1500-2000). There were teachers and students from different parts of Slovakia (another unexpected thing for me).

Among other things, the people from IVU strike committee repeated that if the demands are not fulfilled the universities will start an indefinite solidarity strike on Monday next week for the demands put forward by ISU. There is a mobilization going on these days in the universities and it is already clear that several faculties of the Faculty of Arts (Comenius University in Bratislava) would take part in the strike. The ISU website was updated and university teachers can use it now to register themselves as strikers.

There are already rumours about intimidation at the universities but I would not take them for a fact at the moment (although they are probable).

Btw., the media published several pre-election polls and all of them show that SMER is going down since the beginning of the strike (but still above 30%). It might not be correct to put this into correlaction with the strike because other "scandals" of the ruling party ahve been exposed in recent weeks, but I would say that the capitalists behind the party could become nervous in next few weeks if enough universities or faculties really go on strike.

I forgot to mention a proposal by a representative of the Initiative of Slovak Parents. He said in his speech that they ask parents not to send their kids to school on Fridays until the government starts negotiations with the teachers and that they will wear green ribbons until the elections. The idea of not sending kids to school has beenh debated for some time by parents. It has some legal limitations (simply put, it is illegal to keep your child at home) but there are also ways how to at least partially really go on with this legally. I have not been following this initiative, so I can't say how widespread it is and how many parents are really taking part.

Yesterday, an emergency parliamentary meeting took place dedicated to teachers and nurses and midwives. Long story short - I would say it was just a show for politicians to score some election points. In the end SMER refused opposition proposals and passed their own. I don't think anyone expected a solution from this meeting, though. The meeting lasted for about 16 hours and ended at 2.30 AM:) There was also a scandal because the balcony that public can enter during parliamentary meetings was squatted by SMER's "fanclub" consisting of aggressive pensioners but also some guys in their 20's.

Meanwhile, preparations for the beginning of the strike of university teachers are going quite well so far, but no relevant numbers are known yet except that teachers from 14 universities out of 19 have registered already. You can see the list here: http://isu.sk/zoznam-vysokych-skol/. The rest of the schools in the list are not "proper univestities" (I think colleges is not the proper term either).

IVU teachers and ISU teachers are in touch and sharing skills and knowledge where needed. There are ideas for various activities oriented towards the students and "general public" which could cover interesting topics that were not so present during the actions of ISU. I would not like to say that they are more political, as it is a rather broad term, but while ISU activities were more oriented towards parents and general conditions of teachers, in case of IVU we might see more let's say "structural and in-depth" debates with practical implications as well.

As for the initiative of parents that I mentioned in earlier posts, it seems that these are mainly parents from quite a prestige (not privately owned) elementary school. Anyway, today they kept their promise and from out of 714 pupils 504 did not come to school! This is info only from one school. I don't know how widespread their appeal has been, perhaps they will publish the numbers, if they have them.

ISU statement on suspending the strike and shifting to strike emergency

9th February 2016

Initiative of Slovak Teachers would like to first and foremost thank to 15 thousand pedagogic and specialized employees from almost a thousand of schools, who decided to show their discontent with the situation in education sector and undignified status of teachers by joining the strike. Every sixth teacher in Slovakia has participated in the strike so far. Thank you for withstanding and still keeping on!

Parents, you showed us an enormous support. Our gratitude goes to you for understanding and patience. On the other hand, we understand those of you who have heavy heart at us. However, we believe that you understand that we are on the same boat and our attempts mean a fight for better education, so that your children are happy to go to school and so that you yourselves don’t have to sponsor the school by buying everything from chalk to interactive table.

Also, we would like to thank all the trustors and headmasters that stand behind us with courage during these hard weeks. The support from union and professional organization is of great help to us. The support from thousands of parents, students, members of academia and others confirmed that our problems are not just professional but affect the whole society.

The ISU strike fully revealed the inability of the Minister of Education Mr. Draxler, who did not stand up for the teachers’ demands although repeatedly proclaiming their legitimacy. The strike also revealed utter cynicism of the Prime Minister, who instead of using his position to resolve the problems, focused on discrediting the organizers of the strike and manipulation of statistics, while more than 150 000 children were left without proper education activities or in an emergency mode.

The strike was a chance for the OZPŠaV union and its chairman Mr. Ondek to rehabilitate in teachers’ eyes for the bad handling of the 2012 strike. Unfortunately, the biggest union did not support us. Despite repeated statements of Mr. Ondek that his members can consider joining the strike, he tolerated antistrike campaign accompanied with spreading lies and threats on the lower levels of the organizational structure.

The strike has revealed one unacceptable fact to us. Although a quarter century since the Velvet Revolution in 1989 passed, totalitarian methods persist in the society reflecting itself in particular in relationship between trustor - headmaster - teacher. There were cases of intimidation across the country that have no place in democratic society.

The length of the strike makes it a historical event in Slovak history and its spontaneous organization is unique on a European level. It was organized without financial backing, political affiliation and support from the largest union, which showed that there are thousands of teachers, child care workers and specialized employees who are so much dissatisfied that, in the name of improving the situation in the education sector, are willing to waive a significant part of their income and are fighting to solve the problems they have suffered for so long.

We can say, based on hundreds of meetings, that together we were able to bust a long-time myth that teachers are passive puppets who do what are told to. Those 15 thousand strikers showed to their pupils, to the parents and in fact to the whole society how to fight in a cultivated and creative way not only for their right to dignified financial evaluation but also for the right of every child to quality education in a didactically stimulating environment.

Our strike is successful already now:
• Education has become a social topic. Teachers, public and parents are organizing, getting active, meet and talk about problems they directly face.
• After more than 25 years the society came to life without being mobilized from above and without being controlled by political or power interests.
• We have raised our voice and pointed out at many undignified, manipulative and intimidating practices in education.
• We have been able to unite and stick together.
• We have met colleagues from other schools, created a network of active pedagogues. Thanks to mutual contacts we are able to better cooperate on local as well as state-wide level.
• We have learned a lot. The strike became a school to us. We gained self-confidence, self-consciousness and ability to publicly express our opinions despite intimidation. From now on each future struggle will be easier for us.
• We proved that there is a “societal demand” to solve the problems of education HERE and NOW and not some day in the future.

We called todays’ press conference to announce that the Strike Committee of ISU decided to suspend the strike from Monday 15th February 2016 and shift to strike emergency. At the same time we are very happy that from that day the strike relay baton will be taken by university pedagogues.

We would like to point out that this is not an end. We go on. We will actively pursue fulfillment of strike demands during strike emergency, point out at the shortcomings in Slovak education sector and in particular mobilize school public.

This definitely is not an end. From Monday we return behind teacher’s desk. But the returning teachers will never be the same teachers that left the desk over two weeks ago. Slovakia is not a poor country. It doesn’t have to and MUST NOT save on education. Such saving could cost us a lot as a society in the future.

Tomorrow we continue at 17.00 at Námestie SNP square in Bratislava with a demonstration called ZRPŠ - let’s start addressing the education in the first place. Parents from several city districts organize marches to the place of the demonstration.

Statement of the Strike Committee of the Initiative of University Teachers (IVU)

9th February 2016

Following the meeting of academia that was organized by the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Arts of the Comenius University on 8th February 2016, an Initiative of University Teachers (IVU) was formed in Bratislava that formed its Strike Committee. IVU called on the academia in Slovakia to support the striking teachers.

IVU expresses its support and admiration to 15 thousand teachers who have joined the strike so far. At the same time we attach ourselves to the demands of the Initiative of Slovak Teachers (ISU) and from this day we declare a strike emergency in support of striking teachers. Our preliminary 16-members strong Strike Committee consists of university teachers from 10 faculties from several Slovak universities.

IVU does not put forward any own demands. We fully identify with the demands of ISU and call on the Slovak government to fulfill them. If the government does not fulfill ISU demands, we are ready to take the strike relay baton from the teachers and child care workers in kindergarten, elementary and high schools.

If ISU demands are really not fulfilled, we call on all the university teachers and scientific members to join an indefinite strike from Monday 15th February 2016, which means from the day when the summer semester starts at most of the universities.

In the next few days teachers and scientific members will be able to register as strike emergency participants and strikers on the ISU website (http://www.isu.sk). All the information about next steps will be shortly available at the same link.

We call on Slovak academia to join our initiative. We call on all the students of Slovak universities to publicly act in support of striking teachers and, if necessary, actively support the strike of their university pedagogues. We think that our activities and practical solidarity will lead to higher quality of education in Slovakia which we consider as absolutely necessary.

IVU leaflet “Why university students should go on strike”

1. By supporting the strike of university teachers we indirectly show gratitude to our teachers from high and elementary schools. It is to their credit that we are university students now.

2. Strike is an opportunity to practice the values that are characteristic of the university as an institution. It will be a period of intensive and critical discussions, new contacts, social engagement.

3. Some of us would like to become teachers at elementary or high schools or at university or work in the field of science and research. By supporting the strike, we add up to the effort to change the attitude of Slovak society towards the value of education and knowledge.

4. Students community is – not only in Slovak society – a traditional bearer of change and progressive thoughts. Neither today should it stay aside.

IVU leaflet on strike

1. The strike of teachers in regional education is, after years of ignorance by the government power, legitimate and just. If teachers need help, it is right to offer it to them. And who else is to support them if not their colleagues on the further education level?

2. The quality of high school graduates reflects directly onto the quality of applicants for university study. If we want to improve the quality of our applicants, there has to be a change in remuneration and financing already on the level of the high schools. That is what the Initiative of Slovak Teachers demands.

3. Teachers at the elementary and high schools are graduates of university teacher courses where we work. Let’s be in solidarity with our former students!

4. The way the society perceives teachers, including those at elementary and high schools, is closely related to how it perceives university pedagogues and scientists. If we want our social status to be improved, we have to support the improvement of the status of our colleagues in regional education.

5. The value the society gives to the education strongly affects the way it perceives the science and research. If we want more young people to be interested in working in the field of science and research, the status of teachers has to change.

6. Strike has a strong moral dimension. Our colleagues from regional education were targets of ignorance, intimidation and defamation. If we don’t stand up against this now, we will be the targets next time.

7. Yes, let’s speak about the future: contacts that we establish between us now and the experience that we gain during the strike organizing will help us enormously when we will try to push ahead our own demands related to wages, conditions and social status.

8. Solidarity that we show today will not be forgotten. We can find a strong ally in the future: at least 15 thousand employees in regional education. We have never acted side by side till this time. Let’s try it!

9. Let’s tear down the wall between us and students. Show them that we are able to socially engage in topics that concern us, and approach them as partners in dialogue.

10. Let’s bust the myth about university as an ivory tower. Turn it into a place of open discussions. The public has to have an opportunity to hear our voice.

I have translated the above mentioned four texts into English today as I think it is important not only to write reports on what's going on but to mention also how the ISU (and now also IVU) view the strike. In case you don't understand something, it could be caused by my imperfect English, so do not hesitate to ask for clarification;)

The schedule for next week is almost full and there will be meetings of university teachers and alternative lectures in several cities. There is also a meeting of the parents initiative tomorrow. I hope to be able to attend some of the scheduled activities although most of them are during the working hours:( But I hope other libcomers will write reports from those activities and will not be hesitant to write in English despite it's not their native language;)

Today I went to meetings of teachers, students and ISU representatives at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava.
I thought that as today is the beginning of semester only a few students would show up at 9.00, so my expectations were that 20 students would be a success at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. In the end, the room was almost packed and I counted slightly more than 150 attendees (majority of them students). The presentation of ISU representative was about how it all began, so the whole process that started in 2012 with rolling strike was explained. Then there were some questions from the students and the debate part was very good also because one of the university teachers who was supposed to be a moderator took an active part and added his experience when he was a high school teacher.
The dean of the faculty is supportive of the strike, so he offered one of the biggest meeting rooms for the purpose of the strike. To make it even easier, the students could sign a presence list and if they don’t go to their regular lessons but attend strike meetings they could be excused. That means that the signatures will be stored and kept secret and only if some teachers cause trouble to the absentees, the dean will check the names on the list and if the students really attended strike meetings, they will be excused.
So, all in all, there was a very nice and also fun atmosphere.

I looked forward to the Faculty of Arts and raised my expectations to 70-100 attendees. The meeting started at 11.00 and by that time the meeting room was basically full and people still kept coming. In the end I counted almost 300 people (again, mostly students). This meeting was more like an official media event related to taking the strike relay baton from the ISU. Then there was an open mic and quite a lot of people spoke.

In both faculties I heard teachers (in private talks or openly on mic) mentioning (although shortly) 1968 and/or 1989. Some mentioned what they did back then, some saw similarities in regards to the society on the move for a change. You could really feel that they think that what is going on creates changes.

In both of the meetings the bad situation (=primarily low wages and bad working conditions) of teachers was the main topic, which was sometimes really touching, especially in the context of personal stories about how people would really like to teach but cannot live a life in dignity.

I am curious about the alternative meetings during the strike and hopefully there will be some first-hand accounts here, although not by me because as I already mentioned, most of the activities are during the working hours.

I think it is not worthwile to concentrate on minor things (unless they are indicative of something really important). I haven't heard about the mentioned case, but can imagine it is true. I don't follow TV, only some online media, so I am not sure what type of info you lack, but I recommend to contact ISU with any ideas or comments.

Here is one more translation of ISU statement.

ISU balance sheet

15th February 2016

Initiative of Slovak Teachers would like to present the balance sheet of the longest strike in the history of Slovakia:

During the three weeks approximately 15 thousand teachers from 1000 schools joined the strike. More than 400 thousand hours of classes were not taught.

The strike was accompanied by:

• 17 demonstrations and marches (Bratislava 3x, Košice 2x, Banská Bystrica, Levice, Nové Zámky, Topoľčany, Nitra, Martin, Ružomberok, Poprad, Hlohovec, Brussels, London, Brno),

• Human chains in 17 cities (Bratislava, Košice, Prešov, Žilina, Martin, Banská Bystrica, Nitra, Poprad, Prievidza, Trenčín, Trnava, Partizánske, Lučenec, Pezinok, Topľčany, Rimavská Sobota, Komárno) attended by approximately 12 thousand people.

• 7 concerts, more than 15 charity actions (cooking and helping the homeless, blood donations, cleaning public spaces), hundreds of meetings and discussions at schools, caffes, libraries or bookshops for teachers, parents but also citizens in which thousands of people participated. It is possible that we were not informed about all support actions.

• Initiative of Slovak Teachers published more than 30 statements, open letters or press releases addressed to the Minister, Prime Minister, union, universities and church schools, Human Rights Court of Justice in Strasburg, EU Chairman or Commissioner for Human education, as well as balance sheets and responses to untrue information.

• ISU sent 306 474 emails. Of these 200 718 were read and people clicked on 20 004 links during the three weeks of strike.

• Initiatives of parents and students were formed pursuing our demands. Massive support from known figures and organizations is still growing: http://isu.sk/podporuju-nas.

• Initiative of Slovak Teachers was supported by 9809 people via an e-form.

Education became an important social and political topic thanks to the strike, and there is a consensus among experts that the problems have to be solved. Despite being reproached by opponents of the strike for our informality, we consider the fact that pedagogic and specialized employees joing the strike only because of their own conviction as a key moment that speaks of the acuteness of the accumulated problems in Slovak education system.

I managed to attend two meetings today. One was at Faculty of Arts about the everyday life of a teacher and the other one in the main aula that is used by several faculties of Comenius University in a nearby building (three speeches of some professors).

At the first meeting around noon 3 ISU teachers and 1 IVU teacher (as a moderator) participated. Teachers spoke about how they became teachers and what they do. Among the topics that were raised in the following debate were mainly:

- Feminization of the sector and its historical roots. This was quite an interesting short speech of a sociologist (who joined the strike) about how it is related to the post-war boom in primary sectors of the economy and in industry. In the 50's the wage gap started to show and education became a rapidly feminized sector, which it still is.

- Inovations. People spoke about how the system is limiting them, about the attitude on the side of the kids and parents to just go for good marks and then diploma (in contrast with for example Finland where kids are evaluated by other methods than marks and how this was tried in one of the Slovak schools where the ISU member teaches and met with hostile response of parents, who however changed their mind after some time and welcome this step), about some teachers who are not able to attract kids to enjoy learning etc.

- Behaviour of kids these days. Mostly good experiences were mentioned by teachers but the debate was also about kids who are able to destroy the learning atmosphere in the classroom and methods how to solve such situations.

Very nice and friendly debate and atmosphere with slightly more than 50 people (mostly students) in the room for most of the time.

As for the evening debate, the aula was full which should be around 350 people (mostly students again). I had to leave during the second speech, but the first speech was about how teachers should have good values, how we should be proud of our alma mater, how every society needs to build elites etc. Arrggh. I left the place very soon:) Then there was something which I guess was about material conditions. I saw some photos of school buildings in a bad shape, but after the first speech I preferred to rather chat outside the aula, so I really can't say what the remaining two speeches were about.

As for the other news. The number of universities where there is at least one teacher who joined the strike rose to 18. The ISU website now informs about concrete faculties that are affected: http://isu.sk/zoznam-vysokych-skol/

Students are trying to mobilize but I can't tell about anything significant yet. There are some problems now in Košice because of some rector or dean, who refuses to give permission to use the spaces of the university for other than teaching purposes (vasil can correct me, I am not completely sure, if I understood it correctly).

Teachers from different faculties that are not on strike are trying to meet to decide if they join, so we have to see how successful are these meetings. I think on Tuesday or Monday evening teachers from 15 universities participated and you see today it is 18. On the other hand the numbers are rather low, but I forgot the exact numbers compared to the number of all uni teachers in Slovakia. But I guess they grow and it doesn't seem that the strike is about to end yet.

There is a demonstration tomorrow (besides many other things) in Bratislava. I am very curious about how many people come.

Around 1000 people at the demo in Bratislava today. I would say that mostly university students. Several faculties had their own banners. Not really an impressive event. One of the guest speakers (a professor) had a speach that young people should take part in elections next month because lesser evil is better than bigger evil (which, of course meant, that people should vote against SMER, which of course means that they should vote centrist or rightwing parties). I think this was the first time at a public event that I've heard a speaker openly calling people to vote (at least in Bratislava, but I may be wrong, as I did not follow evertyhing).

There is at least one teacher from 19 universities on strike currently and more faculties are joining in. Some of the teachers, however, teach at the same time, so it is more of a symbolic gesture from them.

The strike for the 3 demands (see initial post) will continue next week, which means it will enter its 5th week.

Good to hear these relatively good news from Košice!

Here are some updates mostly but not solely related to Bratislava:

The initiative of parents that refuses to send their kids to school on Fridays continued today and the number of kids more than doubled compared to last week (numbers are known for two schools in Bratislava and it is altogether 1252 kids compared to 504 last Friday). (At least in Bratislava it could be partly explained by the fact that 3 faculties opened their spaces for the kids and prepared lectures.)

As of today you can see the number of uni teachers on strike on www.isu.sk along with the number of universities where there is at least one teacher on strike (currently it is 492/19).

Some comments to jura:

As for the anti-tuition fight, that is quite an interesting thing to me, because I feel like if this episode is completely forgotten. Even I haven't thought about it as something that could be of any relevance with what is going on now (I was an active participant in the organizing and mobilization of the anti-tuition struggle;) And I am still not sure if it is. But perhaps it would be a stereotype to say that the students don't realize the threat of tuition that the right-wing parties could push forward. On the other there is a mass of voters who don't follow any party programmes when deciding about their votes. Even my younger colleagues tell me how good it was when the right-wing coalition was in power over a decade ago (when, shortly put, Slovakia became a neoliberal experiment)... The longer the SMER is in the government, the more people tend to forget the neoliberal economic bullshit (SMER managed to create their own bullshit of course, but to some this means that opposition would be better, if able to create a government).

As for the Hungarian protests, it surprises me that they are not about economic demands, but to be honest, I don't really follow what is going on over there.

EDIT: Corrected number of kids that absented.

Anti-tuition activities were not a strike. A somewhat informal committee was created but the strike never materialized and there was basically no mobilization of students at particular faculties. I would have to check but if I remember well, the tuition idea was dropped down because the government was not able to make it happen before the end of its term and then those parties were not in the coalition anymore. So, to me it was not a real win but rather a coincidence (although it was presented as a victory of the students initiative by some back then).

As for the elections now. One can hardly expect consistency in such a movement (and seeing what is going on, I might even say in any movement). We wish things were happening this or that way, but it is a living thing. You can do something here or there, but you can't expect people will not vote. (Although I think it really could and should be discussed what people say regarding the elections.)

I think that the response of some teachers is caused by what SMER did during the strike. Many teachers decided to join the strike after what the prime minister, minister or some capitalists said in the media (bullshit that really made people angry because it was a direct attack at their dignity). At the same time - in my opinion - it created a sort of "revenge" attitude. Something like the fenomenon of "protest voting"...

As for judging the strike based on fulfillment of the demands. Well, I used to take this position some time ago as well, but I am sceptical if this is the way to go. Such perspective becomes fruitless when you try to analyse things. OK, they have not reached the demands yet. So, are we to say that they lost? How does this dichotomy help us to see many parts of the mosaic that this movement consists of in terms of organizing and actions. I gues you could say "they lost, but...". Well, then it should be clear which part of the sentence you put the emphasis on;)

Here is a selective list of some of the actions that will take place next week. I hope that libcomers in regions will write reports;) There are actions planned already for the week after next week. A lot of this actions are prepared by teachers at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava whose active involvement is one of the factors of continuation of the strike this week.

Monday
Why a strike? – debate at one of the faculties in Bratislava where teachers have joined the strike only recently.
Why it matters to us? – open debate at a university in Banská Bystrica. There will be also a debate with teachers, parents and pupils in the evening about the future of education system.
Example of non-traditional teaching – two hour presentation in Košice.
Ritualization of politics using the photos from the fascist Slovak republic – evening event in Bratislava.

Tuesday
Workshop on making banners and debate on art in practice and about the art of not being silent (Košice).
Presentation called „Artist – Rebel – Citizen“ with examples of civic resistance and rebellion in arts and film (Bratislava).

Wednesday
There will be marches to „sleeping faculties“ in Košice and Bratislava. They will use drums to make a lot of noise. The actions should be supported by teachers from different schools and universities, students and parents. In Košice it will be followed by a demonstration.
Reading marathon (in Bratislava) – each participant will have 5 minutes to read from his or her favourite book. At the same time there will be a meeting on creating slogans.

Thursday
Workshop on creating didactical tools for schools that joined the strike (Košice).

Friday
Debate on activism in art (Bratislava).

I managed to go to "Why a strike" debate at Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies (FIIT) today. Actually, it was about Why THE Strike:) It was in a relatively new building of the faculty, a completely different planet to what most of the students in Bratislava experience during their studies. The debate was scheduled pretty smart because it was chosen after a lecture where it was sure that a lot of students would go to. The room has a capacity of 400 seats and almost noone left after the lecture. My guess is 300 students stayed for the ISU/IVU debate.

It is hard to compare it with the debate at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics last week but both were good. Here the students were perhaps more active and gave more provocative questions. One of the teachers at FIIT joked that despite they are in the field of information technologies, they were pretty slow to join the strike:) Several specifics of FIIT graduates and IT workers in general were mentioned. For example that they don't have to worry about their jobs, which perhaps makes them more letargic and unresponsive to problems of other people. But the FIIT teachers are happy to join the strike after all because they feel that it is something that is almost their duty.

The students asked about common misconceptions like long vacation and free time that the teachers enjoy, so it was explained how hard the job really is and that it cannot be compared jobs where you finish after 8 hours and that's it.

Another question was about the fact that only 17% of teachers in regional education joined the strike, so how can they call on students to take active role and help the strike when even teachers didn't care. A response by IVU teacher was basically about not following those who don't do anything but what you feel should be done (this "do the right thing" response was seconded by a representative of a students initiative who was one of the guests). Unfortunately, the teacher mentioned also voting, which he seems to consider as part of being active in society. I am curious about such statements as we are closer to the elections date (5th March).

Another response to "only" 17% was intimidation and situation of women in this feminized sector, especially those who have kids and no partner. I wish they mentioned also the role of the OZPŠaV union.

After the debate a dean came to the meeting and explained that she supports the strike (she was not so openly supportive last week (although not openly against either)).

Since yesterday the list of activities for this week grew and one even has to choose between where to go as times collide:) There is also a new activity that in whole Slovakia every day between 12.05 and 12.15 all the lectures would stop and people gather in some open spaces and can take a picture of their gathering and share. A symbolic thing, of course, but these things can play a motivating and mobilizing role.

There is also one great thing which comes with organizing across faculties. Not only the teachers meet and talk to their colleagues from the same and/or other faculties for the first time, but they can go further and thanks to this can talk about own problems and organize to fight for changes. For example there are faculties with bad working conditions (shitty contracts and/or totalitarian bosses). I think these "side effects" will be part of the crucial factors in evaluating the strike even if the 3 demands of ISU are not fulfilled. Even more if they really manage to achieve improvements at particular faculties.

One of the alternative lectures yesterday was at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and was about "rebellions". It provided a short info on some historically known films about rebellions as well as rebellions in art. Some examples from Slovakia were mentioned as well. There was also a screening of parts from Media Cool and Zabriskie Point with historical background and making of the films. I was quite impressed by Media Cool and the scene from the real demo. Pretty powerful even today. Anyway, only some 15-20 people came, which is a pity, but I don't regret going. I wish someone from Košice could write about alternative lectures there, because they have interesting schedule, too.

Today there was the drumming march, which started at the Faculty of Pedagogics in Bratislava. I thought there would be no more than 50 people who would have a walk around the city center on the sidewalk and just beat the drums. Groups of students and teachers from different faculties were coming in front of the building of the Faculty of Pedagogics (which has a nice strike decorum btw) with their own banners and noise and in the end a mass of (my guess) 500 students and teachers was created in the process of what followed. A band formed from over a dozen students and teachers prepared a drum song and it created a wonderful atmosphere which stayed strong during the whole protest. So in the end, it was a real protest march that stopped the transport in the city center for a while. I thought that there would be stops at the faculties it passed by, but it seems the original plan changedt. Anyway, I think this type of action should have been organized long before today, because it really felt great.

In the evening, there was a concert of Rozpor (a well known DIY political punk band) which was very untraditional, as it took place in a hall of Faculty of Arts where usually classical music is performed. A bit surreal and an experience that all the people there will surely remember (the hall looks like a place for royal weddings:)). Now I think that it is a pity that people don't put photos here. Time to change that:)

So, today was really full of positive energy.

The number of teachers in strike rose to 553 from 20 universities. I've seen numbers from 2013 and there should be almost 10 000 university teachers in Slovakia.

I translated an interview with one of the IVU teachers taken from the online version of newspapers SMEfrom 24th February 2016. One does not have to agree with what is said, but in my opinion this interview represents well some aspects and motives of university teachers strike (as much as a short interview can, of course).

Government cannot treat teachers as rags, says a pedagogue

Literary scientist and historian Jozef Tancer has been working at the Comenius University for eighteen years. He sees a great contribution of the strike in uniting academia and solidarity that is untypical of Slovakia.

Jozef Tancer teaches German literature at the Department of German, Dutch and Scandinavian Studies at Comenius University. He is a chairman of the employee part of the academic senate of the Faculty of Arts and actively takes part in the strike of university pedagogues.

One can see that teacher demonstrations are different to other demonstrations. Why is it so?

“We are strike amateurs. But teachers are professionals, also thanks to the job they do, in the ability to communicate and are being used to stand in from of a group and organize it. They can use a lot of the skills that are related to their profession. For example, fine arts disciplines have practical experience with big productions. We learn as we go and make a lot of mistakes. There are actions with important content that we are not able to communicate to the outside world.”

What motivated you to take an active part in the strike?

“I have been following the activities of the Initiative of teachers and seen that new topics emerged which we have not taken into account first. A big topic is the motive of solidarity. Even if it sounds unbelievable, the university teachers reacted because of their moral outrage. Because of how the government treats the teachers and how it communicates with them.”

Do you think that you can influence the approach of the government?

“We are no pragmatists who know how to influence or pursue things. Maybe there is this thing that we have a naive feeling that a teacher should have some respect and gravity in society. They cannot be treated as rags. The way the communication was handled with striking teachers offended our honour and was the emotional reason for many to join the strike. We lack solidarity among groups of people in Slovakia. There is a total lack of solidarity of the majority with any minority, like for example doctors and nurses. National, sexual minorities, refugees… That’s why the civic sector is paralyzed; we forgot what it means that a person is a social being.”

The strike opened a topic of social status of universities

“We did not formulate our won demands purposely. Those of the Initiative of Slovak Teachers could markedly improve even the university education in a relatively short time. Universities would get more quality graduates from high schools. The second reason was that we didn’t want to break up our strength but unite people. University teachers are practically marginalized groups, too. We belong to the education sector and despite our different position, we are an enclave that lives in its own ivory tower, speaks an incomprehensible scientific language, organized conferences, but we forgot to communicate with the outside world. That’s why not only society has distorted perception about us, as we have learnt in the last weeks, but also us ourselves. “

What influence did it have on you?

“Although I am teaching my eighteenth year at the Comenius University, during the last five days I have been for the first time at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, I have met my colleagues and their students. I have been for the first time at the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of the Slovak Technical University; for the first time I had the chance to be directly in contact with people with who we compete for the budget and with who we indirectly talk about criteria of quality via media and commissions, but I have never met them before. I feel like natural sciences have a very specific view on arts and vice versa, but we all are a bit wrong. As part of the strike, the interfaculty cooperation has started. A professor of genetics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences came to the Faculty of Arts and had a lecture on Comenius, which is a miracle in Slovakia. We have a lot in common.”

Will the events of last few weeks move the Slovak academia forward?

“When people meet each other, they automatically start to look for what unites them. This moment will move forward Comenius University in the least. We have thirteen faculties and is it hard to find things in common. Now, informal relationships are being formed. I don’t have a problem anymore to pick up a phone and call mathematicians and agree on common activities. Informal relationships have been formed between universities as well. At the beginning there were people from ten faculties from various universities. Gradually the strike committee grew and we have contact people all over Slovakia now. We, although in Bratislava we are not very good in this, try to travel and meet. Not only across disciplines but regions as well.”

Do you think the cooperation will last?

“We have no boss and we can function only when we respect each other. We have no power, therefore we have nothing to fight about between each other; there is no conflict of competencies. It fascinates me, because for some bodies or institutions this could be a communication problem. The Initiative of Slovak Teachers and the Initiative of University Teachers are built from below.”

Are more than five hundred university teachers a sufficient number?

“No, it’s too little and I am disappointed. But I don’t think this is about numbers. It is about the attitude of individuals. Five hundred active university teachers who are on strike but at the same time teach, may have wider impact than 15 thousand striking teachers that do not teach. Within a week I could talk to one hundred students about what is going on and explain the context of the education. I do my job, I speak about what is going on and at the same time I do not take any wage.”

Despite that, it is hard to find students at demonstrations who would be able to formulate their own opinion and explain why they protest.

“It is not enough to explain it once. Many faculties are preparing for activities after the elections that will not have a strike character but will continue in the edification. I don’t want to be hard on students, but they are like children that need several years to learn to speak up. They need to train and that requires patience. Students are not different to our society – most of them are passive. You can’t start to express your opinion from one day to another and we can’t build civic society in a year. Maybe we have wrong expectations. Why the students should know something the grown-ups don’t know? Students were there when big social changes took place and maybe we heroified them.”

Is it possible to fix it?

“It is important to create a common memory of several generations that work at universities. The generation around their sixties experienced during their studies the year 1968 and in their active years the year 1989. The second generation of people, who are now in their forties, experienced the year 1989 during their grammar school and university studies, and now are assistants and docents. The students are the generation of after-1989. The strike is an opportunity for us to bring the historical experience of reforming the society over to three generations. I believe that this is emotionally most effective when done between the oldest generation and the students. There is a magical bond of mutual generosity and enthusiasm between grandparents and grandchildren. On the other hand, there are strong conflicts between the generation of parents and their children. It is important that many older university teachers who joined the strike speak with their students about their experiences with the year 1989, when much more was in stake than now. 25 years have passed, which is one generation, and to form a new vision of society we need a historical memory.”

There was a lot of debates at universities during last week and also this week. Banská Bystrica was very active in the aspect.

With elections around the corner (Saturday) some uni teachers speak about how important it is to vote. I wouldn't say that it is them using the strike for this propaganda, rather it is something that meany of them would do despite the strike. I remember how it annoyed me in the past when some of my uni teachers mentioned the mantra of voting before elections.

I think that the dynamics of the ISU and IVU strike are very different (I would say because of how different both initiatives were created with IVU having no continuity, not mentioning the fact that ISU's continuity is based on the objective necessity to form something outside the union structures in 2012).

There are some ideas that the next months should be about preparations for a more massive strike in autumn probably together with the OZPŠaV, but not dependent on them.

As for current activities today there was a "Funeral of the Education" march through the city center with a big coffin and a funeral band. It represented a lost fight for the education and a hope that something new will be created. Some 500 people took part, which was more than I expected.

Interesting things are going on in the East, so I hope vasil will report.

For the readers who don't follow Slovak media, here are photos from the Funeral:
https://dennikn.sk/387236/ucitelia-prisli-ciernom-pochovavali-skolstvo-fotogaleria/

I just would like to add to what Bambuľka said that the uni teachers are giving lectures directly at high schools, not unis (oppossed to one of the Fridays), which is I think a very good idea (however, at some schools headmasters allowed it only if the subject was related to the teaching plan of the high school teachers).

Btw., the number of uni workers on strike is currently 573 from 20 universities. Vast majority of them are teachers, but you could find also some exceptions (very small though) of non-pedagogic staff taking part.

The strike shifted to strike emergency from today. Altogether the strike lasted 6 weeks. There are no direct effect in terms of fullfilment of the demands.

There are plans to continue the networking and prepare for another strike.

A lot will depend on how the new government will look like, which is not clear yet, but if there is any new government at all, it will be a right-wing one. I would say that a possible strike in this situation will be much harder thing to organize unless the OZPŠaV union steps in. So, the future doesn't look nice at all and teachers will have to do a lot of work to organize the next strike and to succeed.

Just a short update. ISU and IVU have been active even after the strike. They organized several meetings and actions since March 2016 and used the first day of Slovak presidency of the Council of the EU to stress out their demands (video from the protest with an option of English subtitles: https://youtu.be/a91SlChaZU8).

They plan further actions in August and possibly a strike again in September.