Freezing the salaries of police officers and rescuers can lead to even bigger problems in the field, and if the words of Kaja Kallas to freeze salaries are true, the situation can approach a disaster.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas presented the 2024 state budget draft prepared by the three coalition parties (Reform Party, Social Democratic Party and Estonia 200) in the Riigikogu. For some time now, passions have started to boil over this document, as it causes a lot of concern in various sections of the population.
Concerns are growing about the safety of people in everyday life: the Prime Minister said the government will not increase the salaries of police, rescuers and border guards, freezing them for four years. And this happens in conditions of constantly rising prices.
Currently, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) is talking about a severe shortage of personnel – in the last 15 years, the number of employees has decreased by 2,100 people, and in the coming years it will decrease by an average of 150 people per year. It is not difficult to imagine how this can affect the safety of Estonian residents.
The shortage of police officers is getting worse
There are many questions regarding the government’s draft budget for next year, starting with the fact that the 400 million indicated as one revenue line has no real coverage and it is not yet clear where the government intends to take this money. Kaja Kallas has already talked about some new “national defense tax”, which again burdens taxpayers. Do not forget that income and VAT rates will also increase. In addition, the government promises to introduce a car tax and a so-called sugar tax in 2025. In short, the future looks rather gloomy.
The last few years have been remembered by Estonian residents for various crises, very high inflation (at one time the highest in Europe) and long-term price increases. The sharp rise in Euribor, which most of our citizens’ loans and leases are linked to, has increased their monthly fees by tens of percent.
In such conditions, there is a risk that the government’s decision to freeze the salaries of policemen and rescuers will become a very big problem: according to the PPA, even now they do not have queues of job seekers, and the situation will become even more difficult in the coming years.
The Center Party faction of the Riigikogu met last week with the director of PPA, Egert Belichev, who introduced us to the forecast until 2032. Every year, PPA loses more and more employees (the balance of new employees and those leaving PPA will be -137 in 2023, -143 to -157 in the following years).
According to forecasts, PPA will lose 1,319 employees in 2023-2032. That’s more than a quarter of the workforce as of today. These are simply catastrophic numbers, and that means only one thing: police services are becoming less and less accessible to the people of our country. Already now, for example, Tallinn police officers go on calls in various cities of Harju County, and in some areas the number of police patrols approaches zero. Reducing PPA staff will only worsen the situation.
Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets also announced the closure of one rescue commando – although he initially did not want to name which one, it soon became known that the Kopli rescue commando was in question. This decision does not add to the confidence of the 63,000 residents of the area, not to mention that more than 20 rescuers will be laid off from the Kopli Rescue Command.
It is no coincidence that the mayor of Tallinn, Mihhail Kõlvart, has already appealed to Lääne metsa to keep the Kopli rescue command, but there is not much hope for a positive decision from the minister.
Will wages be frozen for four years?
Instead of looking for solutions to the problem of lack of personnel, motivating people to come to work in the police and rescue services, the government freezes salaries in this field and closes one of the most important rescue teams in the capital. I don’t really understand how this should contribute to solving the problem of the shortage of personnel of the Rescue Board and PPA.
It seems to me that the result of this is exactly the opposite: the motivation of existing employees will only decrease from such a decision, and it will be extremely difficult to find new employees in such a situation. The information that barely came from the Prime Minister that salaries in this field will be frozen for four years will increase the number of people who want to work as a policeman, border guard or rescuer.
Kalle Koop, the head representative of the Estonian Rescue Workers’ Unions (EPTAÜ), has already warned that various response measures are being considered in light of the news coming from Stenbock’s house, hinting at the organization of a strike.
Therefore, the three coalition parties should think seriously about what to do next. Freezing the salaries of policemen and rescuers for even one year can lead to even bigger problems in this field, and if Kaja Kallas’ words to freeze salaries for four years are true, the situation with the cadres can approach a disaster. The government’s priorities are clearly misguided when they are willing to compromise our residents’ sense of security.
