TALLINN, March 7 (Reuters) - Thousands of teachers in Estonia went on strike for better pay on March 7, part of a three-day action local media described as the biggest strike since World War Two and which comes amid worries over the economy this year.
Such industrial action is rare in Estonia and other Baltic states, where labour unions have been weak in the post-Soviet period.
Estonia suffered a deep recession in 2009, but adopted the euro in 2011 after spending cuts. Growth last year was among the best in the European Union and teachers now want a 20 percent pay rise, said education workers union head Sven Rondik.
"Our salaries remain at 2008 levels," he told Reuters, adding that a 2009 pay rise was later reversed after the economic crisis struck.
About 4,000 teachers held a protest in the centre of the capital Tallinn. Throughout the country, about 16,000 teachers were on strike, closing most schools, Rondik said.
"I feel sad, very sad, because we teachers feel we are not appreciated, neither our profession nor our jobs are appreciated," said Inga Tohver at the protest.
The strike will last for two more days, Rondik said, adding that other unions backed the teachers. The website of public broadcaster ERR quoted the head of the transport union as saying buses and trams in Tallinn would be hit by strikes on Thursday.
But the government said economic prospects looked bleaker this year in the wake of the euro zone debt crisis.
"Next year is yet to come and we will see how the economy of Estonia, of Europe and of the world develops," Education Minister Jaak Aaviksoo told Reuters Television.
"There are big risks. That is why we cannot make more responsible promises than we have done so far," he added.
Rondik said teachers were paid between 600 and 800 euros gross a month, compared with a national average salary of 865 euros ($1,100). That is about a quarter of the average public sector salary in Sweden, just across the Baltic Sea.
