Teachers protest wages and government reforms

Students across the country were locked out of schools as teachers staged a one-day strike over low wages and demands for pension reforms. According to the Ministry of National Education, 50 percent of schools participated in the strike.

Teachers are seeking a 50 percent salary increase by 2010 and request that current pension rights remain.

Under labor market reforms, Civic Platform (PO) government aims at encouraging the older labor force to stay in the job market and cut the number of workers entitled to retire after 25 years of service, or as little as 15, to reduce payouts to those who do decide to retire early. 

The current pension system allows around 1.3 million people, mainly sector workers such as teachers, and doctors to retire early. However, the PO government plans to cut that number to 140,000.

Poland's biggest teachers' union, ZNP, representing around 300,000 people, has criticized the government's proposal. "This (pension reform) is unacceptable for us," ZNP spokeswoman Magdalena Kaszulanis told Reuters.

Defending the strike she said, "There is time now for negotiations with the government, but if our demands are not met, we will start a longer protest as of the beginning of the new school year in September."

The Education Ministry said it believed only half of Polish teachers joined Tuesday's strike action.

The legal retirement age in Poland is 60 for women and 65 for men, but the government estimates the average age of people leaving the job market stands at 56 and 58 respectively.