A row has broken out within the Estonian Cabinet over a plan by Minister of Finance, Mart Võrklaev to freeze the pay of public sector employees, including teachers, rescue workers and cultural workers.
Minister of the Interior, Lauri Läänemets and Minister of Education, Kristina Kallas oppose the proposal, saying pay in their sectors is already too low and workers are suffering under financial strain.
Mr Võrklaev said the freeze was necessary to save costs, saying pay could only be increased through lay-offs.
“Of course, we need people in the public sector, we need good people, but this will motivate Ministers and Public Service leaders to look around their own Departments to ask themselves whether all the things they are doing are necessary,” Mr Võrklaev said.
“What often happens then is that the number of Civil Servants begins to decrease; then it is possible to increase the salaries of certain people.”
Ms Kallas (pictured) put in a fierce defence of the educators and others under her Ministry, saying savings could be made by “cutting bureaucratic jobs”.
“We have a great deal of work, procedures, reporting, analyses that is not reasonable; that the State does and that the State Commissions has written into laws and regulations. These need to be reviewed and I think there will be some decent savings there,” Ms Kallas said.
“In my own administration, I have actually identified where people have been hired to do some specific task that could be abandoned or delayed. If we were to do away with these procedures, it would turn out that nothing would get worse in terms of quality, in terms of the country, or in public services.”
She believed there were “quite a few of these activities” in every Ministry.
Mr Läänemets said the most recent pay rise only brought the salaries of rescue workers level with the national average.
“If the plan to cut back comes into force, the minimum wage may be back on the cards for these workers,” Mr Läänemets said.
“I think this view that we will stop everything for four years is wrong. We shouldn’t see it as a cost; we should see it as an investment.”
He said investing in the people who were involved in health, education or internal security actually ensured progress in the economy and society.
The decision on whether or not to freeze public sector wages will be taken later this month.
Tallinn, 8 September 2023
