Estonia experiences wave of strikes

Teachers in Estonia staged a three-day strike last month, calling for a 20% increase in their pay which was cut in a series of austerity measures in 2008 and 2009.

Combined with strikes by transport workers in the capital, and action by power station workers, the strikes were the largest industrial unrest in the Baltic state since independence in 1991.

While the teachers were striking over pay, the other groups were protesting against legislative changes which mean the terms of collective agreements no longer apply after the agreements themselves run out, weakening the position of employees.