The Wednesday protest by teachers from the Sarajevo Canton is a ‘now or never’ opportunity to express their dissatisfaction, said Saudin Sirvo from the Sarajevo Canton Primary Education Union. He added that the protest is justified and legal and recalled that their only demand is a pay-rise.

He noted that the only reason for the protest is the inability to reach an agreement with the Government of the Sarajevo Canton.

“We have only one demand, stemming from our collective agreement, and that is a pay-rise. The Cantonal budget had increased 25 percent, but teachers’ salaries increased only five percent,” Sirvo stressed.

The protest was announced to take place on Wednesday, at 12:05 p.m., in front of the Sarajevo Canton Government building.

He told N1 that the trade union had a perfect communication with the Sarajevo Canton Government and that claims that they had no communication with the Government since the month of May are simply not true.

Sirvo recalled the teachers’ protest from May 8, 2018, and their only demand then was the education reform, and he said that protest turned out to be successful.

“We fought for our students and won because this year’s teaching material was decreased by 20 percent,” Sirvo concluded.