TIRANA, October 31 – If the government does not fulfill the demands of the teachers within the next two days, their protest will turn into a hunger strike. This was announced by the Head of the Higher Education Union, Aleksandër Kovaci in a TV talk show on Monday.
Kovaci said that the 8 percent salary increase does not match the union’s demands, which has requested a 30 percent increase this year and 20 percent next year, adding that the administrative staff should also be included in this increase.
Kovaci noted that the government’s decision is not appropriate and does not comply with the demands of the professorship. Regarding the protest held by the lecturers on Monday, he said that the participation was expected.
“We insist on our request. Satisfactory participation from the Universities of Tirana, also from the districts that followed the boycott… We have been protesting for a month, we cannot continue indefinitely with the same methodology. We want to return to the auditoriums as soon as possible. To make it happen we will change the methods of our protests,” he said.
According to Kovaci, the boycott will continue as long as the eventual hunger strike continues. “The boycott will quickly bring the finalization of talks with the government. We hope it will bring a faster reaction,” Kovaci said. /Argumentum.al
