Playschool teachers in Iceland will soon be going on strike, but the municipalities they work for say there is no money to meet their pay raise demands.
Unlike public universities, Iceland’s playschools are under the control of their respective municipalities; not the national government. Playschool teachers have, for nearly a year now, been trying to get a better salary, and are currently asking for a 25% raise. Bear in mind that their salaries have not increased in years.
With a general strike now possibly days away, RÚV reports, municipalities are in a state of panic. Halldór Halldórsson, the director of the Association of Icelandic Municipalities, said that the money to pay the proposed raises is simply not there.
While the teachers are asking for a 25% raise, the municipalities are offering 11% to 13%.
The total cost of the raise the teachers want equals finding an extra 1.7 billion ISK somewhere. In order to meet the teachers’ demands, Halldór says, they will need to raise playschool fees on parents.
Should no solution be reached, the strike will begin on Monday.
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