A Monday morning meeting between the Finance Ministry and the Israel Teachers Union (ITU) ended without any progress on negotiations between the sides, Israel Hayom reported.
A Sunday meeting between ITU Secretary-General Yaffa Ben David and the Ministry representative in charge of salaries was declared to be focused and "good."
According to the report, the Finance Ministry is managing a sensitive period, under the existing instructions of the Attorney General, in accordance with the conditions of the outgoing government.
Following receipt of permission from the Attorney General to continue negotiations even after the government dissolves, the Finance Ministry prepared an offer, and on Monday morning held a meeting, which was attended as well by the Education Ministry Director General. However, no significant progress was made during the meeting.
The budget, and therefore the Finance Ministry's offer, is smaller than previously planned, due to the limitations set by the Attorney General, Israel Hayom reported.
According to a Finance Ministry source, "If yesterday there was willingness to discuss a relatively small portion of the issues in the agreement, today there was no patience to continue to discuss them, so long as there was no progress on the issue of salaries. It did not end optimistically, as it did yesterday. We are regardless hoping that there will be a breakthrough."
In recent weeks, teachers have held strikes throughout Israel, protesting the work conditions and low salaries. On Thursday, the Finance Ministry promised a Sunday meeting, leading Ben David to cancel the strike, and school has been held as usual since Friday. However, Ben David has warned that if negotiations do not continue seriously, teachers will resume striking.