The Secondary School Teachers Organization (SSTO; Irgun HaMorim, in Hebrew) has declared an open-ended strike, closing schools for what they say could be more than three months.
Teachers launched the strike to protest an insufficient salary increase in the education reform package. The union is demanding a 15 percent pay increase in return for three additional hours of teaching a week to special smaller enrichment classes.
Ran Erez, who heads the union, said the raise offered by the Education Ministry amounts to only 50 shekels a month. He declared that the union has “the organizational and financial ability to strike for over three months" and will be offering alternate employment and interest-free loans to assist teachers in the interim.
Education Minister Yuli Tamir explained that the offer was an incremental raise to last during a five-month negotiating period regarding the implementation of the reforms and pay-increases that Erez himself had proposed. The new reforms are intended to increase Israeli students’ sagging grades and increase the stature of the teaching profession in Israel.
“It must be noted that the government has just allotted an additional 6 billion shekels to the previous total of 18 billion shekels toward education,” Tamir said. “This is substantial and Erez’s claim that it amounts to only 50 shekels per teacher is misleading. The raises must be implemented together with the reforms, but he is demanding that the reforms be left for later.”
The Finance Ministry has estimated that the strike will cost the government 20 million shekels a day and promised that teachers will not be paid for days they spend on the picket lines. Ministry officials said the payment for strike days will not be negotiable, even in future talks on the matter.
The strike, called specifically by the SSTO, includes all Jewish middle schools and high schools, affecting approximately 1,500 schools and an estimated half-million students. It is uncertain exactly how many, as middle schools are staffed by varied percentages of SSTO union members.
Many middle school teachers belong to the National Teachers Union (NTU; Histadrut HaMorim) – a larger union representing mostly elementary school teachers, which will not be joining the strike. That union reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry in May that increased teachers’ salaries and work hours. The NTU teachers, however, say they won’t cross the picket lines to replace their striking colleagues.
Special-education classes will be exempt from the strike, and Arab municipalities are waiting until next week to strike so as not to disrupt Muslim holiday celebrations. Sderot region high schools were refused a request to be exempt, but are planning on breaking the strike “because the students are safer in schools [which are armored against rocket attacks –ed.] than they are at home,” according to the Shaar HaNegev municipality.
Morning radio programs featured union heads answering questions from concerned parents and hotlines (1212-234-567) set up to allow parents and students to determine whether their school will be affected. Various municipalities announced that they intend to extend the hours and operations of community centers to provide classes for high school seniors and activities for those thrust back into a late-summer vacation.
Fire Department Also on Limited Strike
Fire departments will also be engaging in a limited strike Wednesday. They are protesting the reduction of salaries for veteran firemen. Firefighters will only be answering emergency calls, the department announced.