The chairman of the Teachers' Union, Ran Erez, informed the organization's members on Tuesday evening that the union will continue to take sanctions after he claimed the Ministry of Finance made new demands.
"The opening of the school year was made possible by the agreements we reached with the Ministries of Finance and Education, and it quickly became clear that they have no intention of signing the agreement, but rather they are making new demands," Erez wrote to the teachers.
He noted that "the Treasury is now demanding that we agree to the vacation schedule set unilaterally by the Teachers' Union. Not only that, but they are also not interested in paying the first installment of NIS 800 in the September salary. They are making it conditional upon the union signing an agreement in three months. If the agreement is signed, they are ready to pay retroactively."
"Due to our experience with the lack of credibility of the Ministry of Finance, we have prepared for this and therefore we continue with the sanctions that have not yet been lifted. We are not going to accept this method of negotiation and because of all this, we continue with the sanctions. We must not carry out all the activities that we have already announced that we will not carry out, such as activities outside the school or after the school day, meetings, giving grades and certificates, typing grades, holding committees of all kinds, field trips, trips to Poland, and any other activity we were not allowed to do," he concluded.
The Ministry of Finance responded: "Immediately after the agreements reached by the parties, the Teachers' Union ordered its teachers to continue with the sanctions. The continuation of the sanctions and the accompanying harm to the students, after reaching an understanding, is not acceptable conduct. The Ministry of Finance is now working to consolidate all the agreements into a collective agreement and calls on the Teachers' Union to continue cooperation In this matter, without harming the students."