Božović is the only candidate for the president of the Education Union

Current President of the Education Union Radomir Božović He is the only one among the four candidates who meets the requirements for the position. This was stated two days ago at the session of the Main Board of the trade union, at which the list of candidates was determined, while the issue of increasing teachers' salaries in the coming year was also on the agenda.

Vice President of the Education Union Jovan Draskovic He told "Vijesti" that the meeting was determining the list of candidates for the congress and that four people had applied for the presidency. He said that the Statute stipulates that a candidate must have the support of two municipal committees and ten trade union organizations.

"Since no one else received the support of the two municipal boards, it remained that the only candidate who met the requirements was Božović, which the Main Board noted," Drašković explained.

Božović has been chairing the Education Union since November 2021, and was previously a member of the Main Board in the previous three terms and a member of the Executive Board in one.

Drašković also said that the day before yesterday, a decision was adopted to send a public invitation to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation to form a working group, as the period when the budget for next year is being determined is coming up, in order to negotiate wage increases and amendments to the Sectoral Collective Agreement.

"It has now been two years since the previous increase in wages, while the increase in the cost of living is significant and is expected in the coming period, therefore we believe that the conditions are ripe for us to negotiate with the social partner," Drašković emphasized.

The average salary in education, as Božović told the media, is around 953 euros.

The 2024 increase came on the basis of an agreement with the government, after trade unionists organized a strike in February of that year. An agreement was signed then that defined salary increases for teachers - first in July by 10 percent, and then in September.

The total increase in wages, as announced at the time by the Education Union, amounted to around 17 percent net - from 140 to 160 euros, excluding the increase through the Europe Now 2 program.