In exactly four days the school year is expected to open and the students will return to a continuous routine until the Tishrei holidays, this after the teachers sat down in protest over their salary conditions at the end of the previous school year. However, this time too, it is doubtful whether there will be a return to a normal routine, after in recent weeks there have been many warnings from the Secretary General of the Teachers’ Union, Yaffe Ben David, that a strike may occur due to a lack of agreement. In an interview with News 12, Ben David said that the strike on September 1 is still on the chapter
To the question of whether there is progress, Ben David answered that there is still no agreement with the Ministry of Finance. “No. Until now, we sat down, came up with tables and even made changes to them according to what the Treasury requested. The Treasury went to do their homework. Our tables were around 4 billion and we reduced it to 3.5 billion, and of course there are other issues beyond the salaries of veteran and young teachers.” said the Secretary General of the Teachers’ Union.
A strike soon? Illustration photo: shutterstock
Ben David: What teaching staff will enter the system when there is no horizon for promotion?
She further added and said that “what teaching staff will enter the system when there is no horizon for promotion? They want to change the seniority, but the seniority will not change – I am announcing unequivocally, I will not let them harm the seniority. What they are offering is an incentive after 3 years and tenure after 5 years. Who will remain after 3 years? The Ministry of Finance cannot determine the pedagogical policy – only the Ministry of Education and the minister who heads it determine. What are veteran teachers? Teachers with 10 years of experience are at the peak of their experience, hold the entire system, mentor the young teachers – and these teachers say ‘you can Only 400 shekels.”
Ben David blamed the treasury officials and claimed that they are the ones who are stalling the agreement. “We started the negotiations 9 months ago, back when there was a stable government. The Minister of Finance dragged the negotiations and is now trying to continue dragging his feet. The Minister of Finance needs to understand, and I told him that he is receiving the wrong impressions from the Treasury officials, who put things in there that are not included in the agreement,” said the Secretary General of the Teachers’ Union.
She also added and said that “My granddaughter is entering the first grade and I also want her to meet her teacher. But part of the issue of evaluation day is that the teachers are not rewarded for it, and this is one part of the agreement. We are doing everything so that the school year opens, but If, God forbid, the Treasury continues to harden its positions – we will have no choice and close the year.”
Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
“I expect all parties to make a real effort”: Lieberman in a request to issue restraining orders for teachers
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman appealed to the State Attorney’s Office with a request to submit an application to the National Labor Court to issue injunctions to the teachers’ union, thereby preventing them from holding a strike on September 1st. Earlier he tweeted on his Twitter account: “I am happy that the Minister of Education and the CEO of her office visited an ultra-orthodox educational institution this morning on the occasion of the opening of the school year, by the way there are no strikes there even if the Histadrut wants it. I expect all parties to make a real effort and also to prevent a strike in the rest of the educational institutions so that all Israeli students start the school year as a series on September 1.”
The Minister of Education, Dr. Yifat Shasha Biton, responded to the request and said: “Those who request injunctions, while the teams from all sides of the negotiations are sitting to reach agreements that will lead to the opening of the school year as a series – prove that they are not interested in reaching an agreement, and are not interested in the future of a system Education and the future of children”.
She also added that the Ministry of Education built and offered solutions and answers to all the gaps between the parties. “The time has come for the Ministry of Finance to put the children of Israel and their parents in the top priority, and do everything to reach agreements that will allow the opening of the school year, not only this year, but also in the years to come, while promoting new teachers in the system and retaining and teaching the quality teachers who are in the system today. This is In a national crisis. It’s time to convene the government to solve it.”
A strike in supervised nurseries in protest of wages
In the meantime, on September 1st, a strike is expected in the supervised daycare centers, while this Wednesday the nannies’ demonstration will take place in front of the Prime Minister’s house demanding a salary increase, but not at the expense of the parents.
The 4,000 teaching nannies are protesting that the promised rate increase will give each nannies an average increase of 60 shekels per month, and many of them will even lose 150 shekels each month. It should be noted that the nannies are neither self-employed nor hired, as they are defined by the state as independent even though there is no single dimension of independence in their work.
As explained by the Power Workers Union, their working conditions are strictly dictated by the state: the working hours (about 11 hours a day), vacation days, dozens of work procedures, the wage (lower than the minimum hourly wage, and they are forbidden to raise it even by one shekel) and more. On the other hand, they do not receive rights as tenants – without a paycheck or basic social conditions. Due to the conditions of their employment, the nursery nannies union petitioned the High Court of Justice. In response, the state undertook to convene the price committee (a professional committee between the Ministry of Finance and the Economy), which recommended raising the rate for nurseries in the coming school year by approximately NIS 550 per month, but the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Economy decided Reduce the increase by about 20% and divide it into two installments – one third in the coming year and two thirds in the next year.