Schools in northern Israel’s Haifa district will open late Monday, with classes starting at 10 a.m. as part of a teachers’ strike.
The strike will take place in preschool, primary school and middle school. Classes in special education institutions and high schools will begin as scheduled.
Affected communities include: Ya Akiva, Umm al-Fahm, Alona, Baqa al-Gharbiya, Benjamin-Givat Ada, Basma, Jisr az-Zarqa, Jit, Daliyat al-Carmel, Zikron Yaakov, Zevulun, Hadera, Haifa, Tirat Carmel, Half Hackermel, Kiefer Kara, Menashe, Male Iron, Nesher, Katzir-Harish, Rekhasim, Kiryat Motzkin, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Tivon, Kiryat Ata, Kiryat Bialik, Furidis, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Arara and Isfia.
Teachers are on strike across the country since last week As the Israel Teachers Union emphasizes on higher pay and better working conditions.
Schools were closed in the Jerusalem region and parts of central Israel and the West Bank on Sunday morning as part of the union’s campaign.
The teachers union is planning to go on strike every day in different parts of the country till their demands are met; The school year ends at the end of the month.
Government and union officials are negotiating a new wage settlement as part of the upcoming state budget.
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks during a press conference with Ron Tomar President of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, and Merom Schiff on the National Parents’ Council, May 29, 2022, before a teachers’ union strike held at the offices of the Ministry of Finance in Jerusalem . (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
At the center of the tug-of-war are plans for the finance ministry’s reforms to reduce teacher union power, including allowing principals to fire employees without union interference, and between veterans and new teachers by setting pay according to performance. Including bridging the gap. Instead of years of experience.
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman has also proposed that the number of vacation days in the school system be adjusted to approach the number of vacation days granted to workers, to reduce pressure on working parents. needed.
After a meeting with Treasury officials on Sunday, union chief Yafa Ben David said in a press release that no new proposals on teachers’ pay had been proposed, while Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid were absent from the debate. Criticizing.
She told Cannes Public Radio that representatives of the Ministry of Finance maintained their position during the negotiations and added that the union is “doing everything to fulfill the wage agreement.”
“These talks are barren and are not progressing,” she said.
Yafa Ben-David, general secretary of the Israel Teachers’ Union, attends a conference of the Israeli Television News Company in Jerusalem on March 7, 2021. (Yontan Sindel/Flash 90)
Eric Kaplan, vice president of National Parent Leadership and president of the Jerusalem Parents Association, said there was widespread support for teachers among parents, but criticized the attacks, arguing they were “not the way forward”.
“We demand from the ministries of education and finance and the teachers union: take the children out of the games,” he was quoted as saying by the Ynet news site.
Despite Lieberman’s efforts to push for reforms, he may still be undermined by a weak coalition. Education Minister Yifat Shasha-bitan has threatened to vote against the budget unless the teachers’ demands are fully met.
Shasha-Bitten, in an online post on Wednesday, voiced his support for teachers, saying the struggle for increased pay is a “justifiable and important cause”.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Bitn attends a news conference in Tel Aviv on May 9, 2022. (Avshalom Sasoni/Flash 90)
“Their cause is for all. It is about the future of the country. It is in the hands of the finance officers to stop the disturbances by paving the road and speeding up the dialogue immediately,” the minister wrote.
Ben David has emphasized in the Hebrew media that Israeli teachers are paid two-thirds less than the average for OECD countries, a commonly cited index of wealthier economies.
But an analysis by the Cannes public broadcaster found that the difference is much smaller once a more granular breakdown — accounting for bonuses and additional payments for experience — is made. Israeli teachers were actually paid as much or more than the average teacher in OECD countries, the network concluded.
To complicate matters further, schools across the country are facing a severe shortage of teachers.
At least 20,000 teachers and their supporters prove As part of an action led by the Israel Teachers’ Union for higher wages and better working conditions in Tel Aviv in late May.
