Being in first place is not always a good thing. Sometimes, first place is very sad.
For example, when it means ranking first in the number of inquiries to Navalny’s Trade Union — a service where public-sector employees can check whether their salaries comply with the “May Decrees” (Putin’s 2012 wage promises).
Education workers are in the lead there, ahead even of medical staff. And it is worth remembering that healthcare workers are not just doctors, but also nurses, feldshers (mid-level medical practitioners), and orderlies, whom our state keeps in literal poverty.
And teachers earn even less.
It is truly a monstrous situation, given the role teachers play for society as a whole and for every individual person. Everyone goes to school; everyone attends some form of secondary or higher educational institution.
The problem is not only that teachers are paid very little, but also that many people believe that this is how it’s supposed to be. That teachers ought to be paid little. You know, like, “they don’t work in the summer anyway.”
And let’s be honest: among education workers themselves, there are plenty of downtrodden, submissive people who go through life with the slogan: we’re supposed to have tiny salaries — we’re teachers, after all.
We are not even talking about decent salaries right now; we are talking about the minimum guaranteed by the “May Decrees.” That means a salary at the level of the regional average (for a schoolteacher working full time). Let’s be frank: no one is going to get rich on sums like that.
But even that is not happening. Look at the official statistics and be horrified:
Less than 15,000 rubles a month. Can you imagine living on that?
Sure, you will say private tutoring and all that. But there are two things to keep in mind: tutoring is extra work. It is not clear why, for a full-time job, you should get 15,000 rubles and then have to sink all your free time into tutoring;
- the opportunity to give extra lessons exists only where people can afford to pay. Outside major cities, there is almost no tutoring market.
And the most striking thing is that education workers absolutely can win higher salaries. They just need to demand them and be persistent. No one wants to tangle with teachers; no one wants to see teachers go on strike.
We have a budget surplus of 2 trillion rubles. The money is there.
And I am very glad that teachers are appearing who are ready to stand up for themselves and their colleagues.
Take a look:
Good for him!
Let’s dig into the statistics and see: does the Teachers’ Alliance trade union even matter in St. Petersburg?
The table is a bit tricky, but we know how to read it.
According to Rosstat, the average salary in St. Petersburg is 60,000 rubles (the latest available data, more recent than in Ken’s video).
That means a full-time schoolteacher’s salary should be around 60,000 rubles.
A university lecturer’s salary should be 120,000 rubles a month.
From the table, we can see that the first column and the last one are effectively the same thing.
At least 60% of education workers in St. Petersburg earn less than 50,000 rubles a month, and 6% earn under 15,000 rubles.
This is St. Petersburg, not some village!
Why stay silent and wait? The only thing you can wait for is inflation to finish off these pennies.
Speak up, demand what is rightfully yours. These are Putin’s public campaign promises, formalized as decrees.
Why, even in Tatarstan, one of the most hellish regions in terms of lawlessness, a teacher spoke out for higher pay and no one devoured him. On the contrary, they invited him to the city administration and politely asked for understanding.
In short, I suggest actively supporting the Teachers’ Alliance and sharing Daniil Ken’s video.
Links to his appeal on social media:
If you live in St. Petersburg and know a teacher, send them this video and tell them to join the union.
If you are not in St. Petersburg but you do know someone who works in education, send them the video anyway — maybe someone will finally wake up and follow the example.
Saving teachers from miserably tiny salaries is, first and foremost, a task for teachers themselves. And we will support them.