Teachers’ union calls two-hour mini-strike for tomorrow over deadlocked salary negotiations

The teachers’ union says it will suspend classes tomorrow in Tel Aviv and Gush Dan from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for 10th and 11th graders.

The move comes in response to what the union says are deadlocked salary negotiations between the union, the Finance Ministry and the Education Ministry. The government is pushing for individual contracts for teachers, instead of the usual collective salary agreement as demanded by the union.

Individual contracts would turn educators into “contract employees” with fewer rights than salaried staff, and be “the first step toward the privatization of the educational system,” the union says in a statement.

In previous statements, the teachers’ union has threatened to call a full strike at the beginning of the next academic year if the issue is not resolved.