Teachers to strike in north, center of country

In continuing action by union, 8,600 teachers at 82 high schools won’t go to work, affecting 59,000 students

By ToI Staff 10 December 2017, 8:11 pm

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Illustrative image of an empty classroom. (Gloda/iStock by Getty images)

High school teachers in the north and center of the country will strike again on Monday, as the teachers union continues its dispute with the treasury over better wages, the union said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

The strike will affect some 82 schools, 8,600 teachers and some 59,000 students.

The cities and towns where the strikes will take place are: Abu Sinan, Elon, Umm Batin, Al-Hawashleh, Al-Fur’a, Al-Sayyid, Abu Talul, Abu Qrinat, Al Qasim, Neveh Midbar, Bir Hadag, Bustan HaGalil, Beit Jann, Bana, Jedida-Makhar, Jules, Gornot Hagalil, Gesher Haziv, Deir Al-Assad, Yanuh-Jatt, Yarka, Kabri, Kafr Yasif, Majd al-Krum, Mulda, Mazra’a, Nahaf, Sajur, Evron, Rama, Sheikh Danun and Shlomi.

This follows Sunday’s strike in schools in the south of the country, which affected 109 schools and some 40,000 students.

The ongoing strikes were called by union leaders as they demand higher salaries and claim the government is procrastinating over talks. Union leader Ran Erez said the union would announce future steps after the Monday strikes.

High school teachers began their action in November, after talks with the government agencies broke down.

The teachers’ union representing high school staff wants an immediate monthly gross wage increase for starting teachers, from NIS 6,400 ($1,820) to NIS 8,000 ($2,275), along with a comparable raise for teachers with up to seven years experience. In addition, the union said that teachers who have been teaching for eight years or more must receive an extra NIS 600 ($170) a month.

Erez said some of the other demands would not cost the Finance Ministry anything, but would improve work conditions for teachers.

The teachers claimed the Finance Ministry is “refusing to reach an agreement in good faith.”

Erez claimed talks with the ministry broke down after it agreed to the wage hike but only on condition it be phased in over the next four years. Since the ministry was not prepared to approve the increase immediately, he said there was no point in further negotiations and no alternative but to strike.