As teachers strike, union chief says won’t give up battle against surprise salary cuts: ‘How much can teachers be humiliated?’

With hundreds of thousands of children home amid a strike by teachers, Israel Teachers Union chief Yaffa Ben David says education staff will not give up their fight against the surprise 3.3 percent drop in government salaries for April.

“We are not weakened, we will continue this struggle until the end,” she tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“How much can the teaching staff be humiliated? How much will they be disrespected? The system is collapsing, there is no staff, the good ones are leaving,” she says.

The strike until 11 a.m. is taking place in preschools, elementary schools and middle schools, but special education institutions are not be affected.

According to reports, many teaching staff are calling in sick and some schools and kindergartens may not open at all.

Having initially said it was not against the strike, the Education Ministry backtracked yesterday and said it would go to court on the matter.

The Labor Court began a hearing on the strike a short time ago.