Education – Mainz – GEW demands better pay for teachers at primary schools – Education

Mainz (dpa / lrs) – The Education and Science Union (GEW) is launching a campaign next week for equal pay for all teachers in Rhineland-Palatinate. “The lower wages of primary school and often secondary school teachers compared to their colleagues in other teaching posts does not do justice to reality,” said GEW state chairman Klaus-Peter Hammer on Friday. Under the Corona conditions, the teachers at the primary schools had also proven how indispensable their work was by developing concepts for distance learning.

The “JA-13 campaign” refers to the civil servants tariff A13 and E13 for white-collar workers. Primary school teachers are currently paid according to A 12. In addition to the DGB union, the Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE), under the umbrella of the German Association of Civil Servants, has long been calling for the equality of teachers at primary schools with their colleagues at grammar schools. The lower wages mostly affect women, said elementary school teacher Carmen Zurheide from the GEW board. “They feel like the other heroines in the Corona crisis, who have been applauded, but are relatively poorly paid for their professional work.”

The GEW points out that seven federal states have already introduced or agreed to equality of teachers in primary schools. “We don’t want to let ourselves be left behind in Rhineland-Palatinate, especially since the teachers’ pay is the second worst nationwide,” said Hammer.

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