Academic society is exposed to continuous growing demands and requirements – innovative pedagogical work, international recognition in research, cooperation with industry - these are just part of requirements which have to be ensured by academic staff at each higher education institution (HEI) in Latvia. The question arises – do working conditions of academic staff, taking into consideration described demands, duties and requirements, correspond with decent work practice, such as competitive pay and working stability? The aim of the research paper is to investigate if the factors influencing work of academic staff are following decent work practice. In order to reach the aim of the research paper, the authors have used the results of the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees (LIZDA) survey conducted at public higher education institutions in Latvia. The time period of survey was April – September, 2019. The target group of the survey were representatives of academic staff. The major conclusions of the research are the following: (1.) salary of academic staff isn’t competitive with other public professions and positions in Latvia; (2.) working stability of academic staff is low because of insecure and precarious contracts; (3.) working conditions of academic personnel regarding competitive salary and work stability don’t correspond with the decent work practice.

Retention of teachers in education system is a serious problem in Latvia. This is a challenging issue, especially for novice teachers. Professional support measures such as mentoring, in-service training or emotional support are crucial for novice teachers to remain and continue working in school. The aim of this research is to explore opinions of Latvian teachers about professional support measures that are both available and needed to be introduced for novice teachers. This paper presents a part of the research results which were obtained during an on-line survey (N=1258) conducted by the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees in 2018. The questionnaire comprised the statements on following measures of professional support: methodological, financial, material and technological. The statements were assessed by using 5-point symmetric Likert scale (strongly agree, slightly agree, neither agree nor disagree, slightly disagree, strongly disagree). The results witness about regional disparities mainly between the capital city Riga and other regions: there are statistically significant (p<0.05) differences in opinions of the teachers representing different regions of the country. The respondents agree that there is a lack of well-structured and uniform support system for novice teachers at national level. In many schools a mentoring is not provided at all, or mentoring is not a paid activity for those who support novice teachers. In general, the teachers are positive about availability of an emotional support and in-service training in the school they work. The most critical opinions are about material and financial support that novice teachers can access. The authors conclude that different professional support measures are available for novice teachers in Latvia, however, there is no support system in place to address which functions and support measures should be implemented at national, municipal or school level. Policy makers should focus on national teachers' support guidelines which would allow schools to ensure the most appropriate environment for novice teachers so that they would like to continue their careers in teaching profession.

Uncompetitive remuneration for teachers has been a problem for many decades in Latvia. Government together with social partners –education trade unions, have tried to solve this problem by asking to allocate additional financial resources to public education budget, by developing teacher salary raise schedules and various educational reforms in all three Baltic countries. The aim of the study is to research general principles of teachers’ remuneration and workload in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, for comparison and social dialogue argumentation on the part of education trade unions. Research approach is analysis of information on teachers’ salary calculation and workload presented by education trade unions as semi-structured interviews. Reflection on the topic in relation to theoretical sources, including international organizations representing education and social dialogue issues, is enclosed. The results of the research show that there are differences in all three countries regarding general education teachers’ remuneration. The main challenge is the implementation of effective and decision –making oriented social dialogue between trade unions and education policy makers regarding teachers’ weekly contact hours and paid additional hours per full workload, minimal and average monthly salary rate for teachers. The conclusion of the paper indicates that, based on Lithuania and Estonia experience, immediate reforms in Latvia are necessary to increase public funding for education, to increase teachers’ remuneration, harmonize and balance workload and ensure that teachers are paid for all duties performed.

Retention of novice teachers in education system is a serious problem in Latvia. Mentoring, in-service training and emotional support are crucial for novice teachersto remain and continue working in school. The aim of this research is to explore opinions of Latvian teachers about professional support measures that are available and needed to be introduced for novice teachers. The research results were obtained duringan on-line survey (N=1258) conducted by the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees in 2018, and document analysis. The questionnaire comprised the statements on methodological, financial, material and technological support which were assessed by using 5-point symmetric Likert scale. The results witness about regional disparities mainly between the capital city Riga and other regions. There are statistically significant (p<0.05) differences in opinions of the teachers representing different regions of the country. The respondents agree that there is a lack of well-structured and uniform support system for novice teachers at national level. In general, the teachers are positive about availability of an emotional supportand in-service training. The most critical opinions are about material and financial support that novice teachers can access. The authors conclude that policy makers should focus on national teachers’ support guidelines.

The authors in the paper present the results of the on-line survey on teachers' professional support measures which was carried out in collaboration with the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees. The aim of the research was to explore, how teachers assessed availability and level of professional support measures within a context of current education reforms. The quantitative research design was used in the study and the quantitative survey of the teachers was conducted via web tool visidati.lv (n=1258) from November 2 till November 27, 2018. The questionnaire comprised the statements on following measures of professional support: financial, material and technological, methodological, and societal. Teachers' opinions regarding their provision with resources and support were analysed by region. The results witness about regional disparities mainly between Riga and Latgale regions. There are statistically significant differences between both regions in how teachers are provided with health insurance. The need for financial and societal support was assessed as most important for teachers in Riga region, while Latgale teachers considered the need for methodological and material support. Teachers in Zemgale more often than the respondents from other regions agreed with the statement that when integrating students with special needs into general education institutions, teachers are not paid for additional duties. The authors conclude that different professional support measures are available for teachers in Latvia, but there is No common support system in place to address which functions and support measures should be implemented at national level and which at municipal level.