PM's Office: Pay Plan for Culture Workers Will Be the Next Culture Minister's Task
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs does not currently plan to head off planned culture-sector protests with concrete pay proposals. His adviser says talks with the sector and a long-term pay plan will fall to the next culture minister.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List) does not currently plan to defuse the protests planned in the culture sector by putting concrete proposals on pay rises on the table. This was explained to the programme "Kultūršoks" by Elīna Šverna, the prime minister's communications adviser.
Šverna said that once the new government is formed, talks with sector representatives and the preparation of a long-term plan for gradually raising salaries will be the "serious work" of the next culture minister. The question of culture workers' pay is therefore being left to the incoming minister.
Budget not yet discussed
The outgoing culture minister, Nauris Puntulis (National Alliance), confirmed that the government has so far held no talks on the sector's budget for next year.
Together, the two statements show that the sector's pay issue has not yet been spelled out at either prime-ministerial or ministerial level. The protests planned by the culture sector would therefore take place with no concrete pay offer and no clarity on funding for the coming year.
