Although the Sejm passed an amendment to the Teachers' Charter, the Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP) is continuing its protests. Its main demands include linking teachers' salaries to the national average and a 10% salary increase. If these demands are not met, a demonstration by education workers will take place in Warsaw on September 1, 2025.
A protest alert has been in effect since June 24th, announced by the Main Board of the Polish Teachers' Union. As part of this, an information campaign is being conducted regarding the growing problems in the education system and the ZNP's demands to the government, the Minister of Education, and the Minister of Science and Higher Education.
A large demonstration is planned
“We also call on MPs to begin work as quickly as possible in the Sejm on the ZNP Citizens' Initiative “Decent Wages and High Prestige for Teachers,” which would link teachers' salaries to the average wage in the economy, in order to depoliticize decisions on this matter. The Prime Minister promised this to us in November 2023. Twenty months have passed since then, and work has barely begun,” Urszulka Woźniak, Vice President of the Main Board of the Polish Teachers' Union, tells Bankier.pl.
“Education is an investment, not a cost. Without it, there is no innovation, a well-functioning economy, or prosperity. Teachers are still paid very low wages, barely above the minimum wage and much lower than other professions with similar education, qualifications, and responsibilities.”
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According to Urszula Woźniak, if these demands are not met by August 25, 2025, when the ZNP Board meets, the union will launch a protest, starting with organizing a nationwide demonstration of education workers in Warsaw on September 1, 2025.
Changes to the Teacher's Charter
Meanwhile, last week, on July 25, 2025, the Sejm passed amendments to the Teachers' Charter, which are scheduled to come into effect on September 1, 2025. They will now be considered by the Senate. According to the Ministry of National Education, which prepared the draft, they also respond to demands from trade unions.
The changes to the Teachers' Charter include:
- shortening the employment period of a beginning teacher – fixed-term contract shortened from two school years to one school year
- clarifying the mentor's responsibilities
- expanding the group of people entitled to compensatory pensions to include teachers at public and private educational institutions, vocational training centres and sectoral skills centres, artistic institutions, pedagogical libraries, teacher training centres and colleges for social service workers, as well as teachers employed in district educational centres, correctional facilities and shelters for minors.
- new regulations on early retirement for teachers
- abolition of the so-called “black hours” – additional, unpaid working hours introduced during the PiS government
- clarification of the rules for remuneration for overtime hours – a teacher will receive remuneration for unfulfilled overtime hours if at that time he or she conducted other activities assigned by the school principal and taking into account the needs of students
- limiting unjustified ad hoc replacements
- unification of the teaching load of teachers of vocational subjects – teachers of practical vocational training will have the same weekly number of hours as teachers of theoretical subjects – 18 hours (previously 20 hours).
- change of the payment date of remuneration components, the amount of which can only be determined on the basis of work already performed – they will be paid monthly or in arrears by the fifth day of the month following the month for which the remuneration is due.
- restoring the possibility of appointing a school principal for another period without the need for a competition
Teachers need pay raises
As the vice president of the ZNP Main Board admits, work on amending the regulations concerning the Teachers' Charter has gained momentum. She believes it is almost certain that the Sejm will pass the beneficial changes on August 5th of this year, something that previously seemed impossible.
“However, this was just one of our demands. We also demand a 10% increase in teachers' salaries from September 1, 2025, and a swift implementation of the Citizens' Initiative ,” says Urszula Woźniak.
According to trade unionists, successive governments do not introduce systemic solutions, but only put out fires.
“When the police rebel, they receive a tax-free housing allowance of 900 to 1,800 PLN. When there's a shortage of workers in social services, the government is introducing a three-year program to subsidize the salaries of local government employees by 1,000 PLN as an incentive. Teachers, on the other hand, received 30% and 33% salary increases in 2024. It's just that no one remembers the level of these increases, ” explains Urszula Woźniak.
“A beginning teacher was paid PLN 3,690, and a tenured teacher PLN 3,890, while the minimum wage was PLN 4,242. For the first time, teachers were paid a supplement to the minimum wage,” he added.
According to her, currently in Warsaw, a support worker in a teaching position, where only a basic education is required, earns more than a teacher. However, the qualifications and responsibilities are incomparable.
– We also need to change the way teachers are trained and stop thinking that they will always manage – adds the ZNP representative.
