Last update - 00:00 23/12/2007
New talks between lecturers, Finance Ministry break down
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
Negotiations between representatives of senior academic staff and the Finance Ministry broke down late Saturday night, a day before the lecturers' strike entered its ninth week.
The late-night talks followed a two-week hiatus in negotiations between the treasury and the lecturers' organizations.
The treasury claimed it made serious offers at the four-hour session which could have solved the dispute, but the other side rejected them; it did not, however, give details of the offers.
Finance Minister Roni Bar-On met the senior lecturers' representatives at the talks Saturday for the first time since they began the strike.
Prof. Zvi Hacohen, the head of the coordinating body for senior faculty organizations, confirmed Sunday that the lecturers rejected a treasury proposal that they settle the dispute through arbitration.
"We cannot accept the proposal in this situation, because the Finance Ministry will begin to argue over minutiae. The treasury is offering a salary increase but we are not speaking of a salary increase ? but are speaking of wage erosion. It is impossible to accept a salary increase that will only cover half of the wage erosion," Hacohen said.
The professor also said the lecturers are willing to enter a mediation process with the treasury ? but not on condition of first stopping the strike.
The university presidents committee was to meet Sunday at the office of its chairman, Prof. Moshe Kaveh, in order to discuss whether to cancel the current semester.
Treasury officials offered the professors via the university presidents -the only open channel -last week a raise of 14 percent in compensation for past wage erosion, as well as proposing a mechanism for preventing future wage erosion.
The professors said they could not accept this offer, even though the semester might have to be canceled. They argued that compensation of 14 percent is not enough to cover their real wage erosion of between 30 and 35 percent, and that the treasury's proposed mechanism is insufficient to prevent their salaries becoming eroded in the future.
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