Teachers' unions put members on strike alert

Czech teachers unions announced on Tuesday that they are telling their members to be ready to go on strike over government spending cuts in education. They say the move is in response to the government's failure to react to a petition they submitted to it at the end of June with over 64,000 signatures protesting about the government's management of the country's education system. Among other things the unions are unhappy at plans to cut university budgets by a billion Czech crowns or over 50 million US dollars and the low level of teachers' wages. A spokesperson for the Education Ministry said the government understood the unions' position but that the planned spending cuts would have to be respected.