Striking Bulgaria teachers reject pay hike

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Bulgarian teachers turned down a government-proposed salary raise and Monday entered a sixth week of a nationwide strike.

Teachers, demanding a 78 percent salary hike, rejected the government offer of a 48 percent wage raise in 2008, the Bulgarian Sofia News Agency reported.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev took part in talks with teachers’ union leaders on several occasions last week in a bid to resolve the problem.

Bulgarian teachers' average monthly salary amounts to $320.

Union leaders preliminary accepted the government’s offer last week to raise salaries by 48 percent, from a raise of 35 percent suggested Oct. 17. But the rank-and-file teachers remained resolute in their demand for the 78 percent raise, which reflected a reduction from their demand five weeks ago of a 100 percent increase.