Lithuanian teachers' union threatens to strike on November 16

The Lithuanian Education Workers' Trade Union (LŠDPS) said on Friday that it plans to start a nationwide teachers' strike on November 16 if no agreement on higher pay is reached by then. The union is demanding a 10% increase in teachers' salary coefficients, arguing that the government's proposed raise for next year would not meaningfully improve educators' financial position.

The ministry's proposal

The Education, Science and Sports Ministry proposes raising teachers' pay by 7.56% next year, which it says equals an extra 92 to 152 euros per month after taxes. Under the plan, salary coefficients would go up by 4.5% from January 1. A further 0.43% would be allocated to the fixed component of the coefficients, covering work complexity, additional payments and other allowances. The basic salary amount used to calculate pay would rise by 2.5%.

The union's arguments

LŠDPS Chairman Andrius Navickas said teachers do not want to strike for the sake of it, but want to reach a deal and be heard. He argued that dialogue is impossible when decisions have already been made. The union calls the proposal flawed, saying teachers' wages keep falling behind the national average. Last year teachers' salaries rose by 8.41%, while the country's average wage grew by 9.4%, so the gap widened.

The union stressed that it remains willing to negotiate and compromise, and said the strike would be called off immediately if an agreement meeting its interests is reached before November 16.

Background

The union also threatened strike action last year, before the 2026 state budget was adopted. At that time, Education Minister Raminta Popovienė announced that an additional 100 million euros had been secured for teachers' salaries. Under Lithuania's national education agreement, a declarative deal among the country's parliamentary parties, the average pay of education workers should be at least 130% of the national average.