Last update - 00:00 19/10/2007
University profs. order strike after talks with Tamir fail
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
Talks between senior university lecturers and Education Minister Yuli Tamir over the weekend have failed, paving the way for a planned nationwide strike to begin on Sunday, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.
Having failed to reach an agreement with the government, the academic union announced Friday that on Sunday - the day universities are set to open their academic year - they would hold a nationwide strike. In addition, as opposed to the previous strike, postgraduate master's and doctorate degree students' faculties will also be on strike.
The strike is to take place in Haifa University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, Hebrew University, Technion, and Bar-Ilan University. However, the universities and the libraries will remain open, and the administrative staff will work as usual.
The Committee of University Heads urged the students to come to campus, since "a substantial number of lectures will be given by junior staff members and visiting lecturers, who will not go on strike. Similarly, the administrative services, libraries and laboratories will be available as usual. The students should be there to enquire if and how a lecture is given."
Representatives of the academic union met Friday afternoon to consider the government's proposal to begin deliberations with the Treasury Ministry to reach an agreement on additions to their salaries. The government said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would ensure the appropriate process be held, in order to mend the lack of trust the Treasury holds among professors.
However, the professors who demanded an actual commitment to solving the salary crisis, decided to hold the strike. In an announcement sent Friday to their colleagues, they wrote that, "In light of the lack of progress in negotiations with the Treasury, we have been left with no choice but to strike. In doing so, classes in all the universities will be on strike, for all degrees, starting Sunday."
Late Thursday, university heads reached a midnight deal with government officials over their demands for additions to the higher education budget. At the time, professors said they may still hold off classes until they reach a compromise of their own with the government over a new wage agreement.
The proposal by the Prime Minister's Bureau for the gradual increase of NIS 300 million in higher education funds matches the demands university presidents had made as a condition for starting classes as scheduled on Sunday.
The union of academic professionals, however, has been immersed in negotiations of its own over a renewed wage agreement.
"The negotiations failed and the strike is on its way," said Professor Zvi Cohen, chair of the Coordinating Committee of Faculty Associations in Israel said Thursday after the three days of talks between professors, the Treasury's supervisor of wages, Eli Cohen, and Education Minister Yuli Tamir.