Estonia: Trade union agrees to compromise, ends teacher strike

The Estonian Educational Personnel Union (EHL) has ended a nationwide strike of teachers and accepted the government’s proposal allocating an additional EUR 5.7mn to raise teacher salaries in 2024, ERR reports. Under the agreement, the minimum salary for general education teachers will rise by EUR 17 to EUR 1,820 per month. Also, collective negotiations will begin to raise average teacher salaries to 120% of the national average wage by 2027. EHL chairman Reemo Voltri said that the union agreed to an offer from junior coalition parties Estonia 200 (E200) and the Social Democratic Party (SDE), given that the Estonian Reform Party was unwilling to resolve the situation. Education Minister Kristina Kallas said that the extra funds would come from ministries managed by E200 and SDE. The open-ended teacher strike lasted for seven school days.