Teachers Union, treasury announce deal, but tens of thousands still planning to strike
Salary cut reduced from 3.3% to 0.95%; many schools expected to shut altogether Monday as some staffers decry ‘disgraceful agreement’ touted by education, finance ministers
The Israel Teachers Union and the Finance Ministry announced Sunday evening that they had reached an agreement to settle the dispute that caused tens of thousands of teachers to strike that morning, but many teachers were nevertheless planning to continue their labor action, voicing dissatisfaction with their union’s stance.
The strike was announced on Friday, with teachers saying they were protesting the surprise 3.3 percent drop in government salaries for April amid the war in Gaza, with the strike taking place in preschools, elementary schools and middle schools across the country.
The strike began on Friday in an unofficial manner, with hundreds of kindergarten teachers calling in sick, leading preschools around the country to not open, as not enough substitutes could be found.
As the official strike began on Sunday morning, some teachers did not report to school until 10 a.m. and others did not report at all, with many schools opting to remain closed for the entire day.
The Teachers Union said in a statement that the agreement would set the pay cut at 0.95% instead of 3.3%, and it would only be in effect from May to the end of December 2025, hailing the “significant achievements.”
The gap in the cuts would be offset by other reductions in salary raises, promotions and school benefits, and teachers would get extra vacation days, Hebrew media reported.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who had initially supported the strike and criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, wrote on X on Sunday evening: “The strike is over! We secured a worthy deal for education staffers.” He and the Teachers Union both said the agreement reverses what they called the discrimination of teachers relative to the rest of the public service employees.
Smotrich confirmed a deal had been reached, asserting that the Teachers Union had previously been the obstacle to an agreement and that “fake news” had been circulated as part of the negotiations.
However, multiple reports said that many teachers were unhappy with union leader Yaffa Ben David’s concessions in the negotiations, and were planning to continue to strike, with thousands of teachers already reportedly calling in sick for Monday’s classes.
“This is a disgraceful agreement,” one teacher told Channel 12. “We do not agree to this.”
“The agreement is a disaster for education workers,” another told Channel 13. “It will harm our pensions, remunerations and seniority benefits.”
Channel 12 said tens of thousands more teachers could join the strike on Monday, with many schools announcing that they would close their doors altogether in anticipation that teachers would not report to work.
According to reports, some 25,000 teachers joined the strike on Sunday, with the number expected to increase significantly on Monday. Some outlets put the anticipated number of striking teachers at over 50,000.
Several outlets reported Sunday evening that the Education Ministry and Finance Ministry had informed teachers that their “sick days” would not be considered legitimate and thus they would not be entitled to pay for days in which they did not report to work.
The Times of Israel Community.