Protests in Zagreb

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

So, what do you guys here think about the massive protests that New York Times is reporting are going on in Zagreb?
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11...trike.html
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/11...trike.html
I am in Osijek, 174 miles from Zagreb, and I am having a hard time believing the protests are as massive as New York Times claims. But I don't have the time to go to Zagreb to see for myself.
Those protests are organized by public unions, and they are primarily demanding higher wages for teachers. Do you think that's a good idea?
Well, I agree with the mainstream Croatian media that it isn't. The government shouldn't comply to the requests of the public sector. We need to ask ourselves where that money would come from. In all likelihood, that would mean that the Croatian government would go further in debt. Or increase the already-too-high taxes. Perhaps both.
Also, I think it might be a better idea to pay all the teachers who teach some subject equally, and not according to their "merits". Right now, those who teach history of music or history of art generally have the same wage as those who teach mathematics or foreign languages. I don't think it's fair, it's way harder to teach mathematics or foreign languages than to teach art. I also think that paying teachers according to their "merits" is a deeply flawed system. Because what that actually means is paying those teachers, whose students succeed better on competitions, more. I don't think that's a good idea. When students succeed on competitions, it's not the teachers who have done the hard work, it's the students who have done the hard work.

Well, it certainly seems to be true, according to local news and...whaddyacallit…photographic evidence.

https://www.total-croatia-news.com/polit...g-teachers

Sorry, 'the government shouldn't comply to the requests of the public sector'?  The public sector is employed by the government - who else is there to comply?  What the teachers are asking for is a 6.11% increase, to bring them into parity with the rest of the public sector, and 6.11% isn't going to wreck the Croatian economy.

Paying all teachers of the same subject equally is a pretty daft idea.  Suppose Teacher A and Teacher B (I normally name the people in my hypotheticals, but I don't know any Croatian names) both teach history.  Teacher A spends time crafting lesson plans, works with students who are struggling, and generally engages the class in the material.  Teacher B lets the students read comic books while he naps at his desk.  They should both be paid the same?

Boru