The numbers speak for themselves. In 2014, the Teachers' Union still had 23,535 members, and in 10 years many people turned their backs on them, as they now have only 5,200 members left. The situation is even more deplorable for the Democratic Union of Teachers. Even 10 years ago, there were barely 2,612 members, now there are just 800 members left. All this should be compared with the number of approximately 165,000 teachers working in education.
And who knows how many of the members may be no longer active teachers where the leader is no longer an active teacher, but has been speaking on behalf of the teachers as a retired teacher for years - writes State Secretary Bence Rétvári on his Facebook page.
The teachers turned their backs on the unions because the unions turned their backs on the teachers. We thought it was almost unimaginable, but we saw with our own eyes how the teachers' unions were blocking the increase in teachers' wages. If we don't see it with our own eyes, we might not believe it. Let's tell the truth: the unions have failed the teachers and have become the pedagogic wing of the left. Too bad for them - Bence Rétvári concludes his post.
Cover image: Illustration / Zsuzsa Szabó, president of the Teachers' Union and Tamás Szűcs, president of the Democratic Union of Teachers at the national teachers' demonstration of the Teachers' Union (PSZ) in Budapest, Kossuth Square on November 30, 2019. MTI/Márton Mónus
