Court issues back-to-work orders to striking high school teachers
Orders to go into effect Dec. 13, after the Hanukkah vacation, giving teachers, treasury time to negotiate a deal.
By Or Kashti Tags: Israel educationThe National Labor Court issued back-to-work orders late Tuesday forcing high school teachers to end the strike that was set to enter its 49th day.
The court ruled that the teachers would return to work after the Hanukkah vacation, on December 13. The orders would only go into effect after the holiday, giving the teachers and the Finance and Education Ministries time to come to an agreement beforehand.
The court also offered the teachers the option of returning voluntarily to work before the end of the holiday, and pledged to compensate them in accordance with holiday wages.
Earlier Tuesday, Haaretz learned that despite the back-to-work orders, at least some of the teachers were planning not to show up for work.
If the court decides to force the teachers to end their 49-day strike, some of the teachers won't come to class, Secondary School Teachers Association sources told Haaretz before the court had handed down its ruling.
They added that some of the teachers who are planning on coming to work will not follow the curriculum, and will teach about such subjects as the right to strike and laws pertaining to trade unions.
As the court was deliberating the case, attorneys representing the teachers association said the court was not authorized or able to decide for the organization whether to accept the state's proposals.
"This dispute cannot be resolved in unilateral actions," the association's representatives told Haaretz. "The state is habitually neglecting each and every one of its promises to the teachers."
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"Teacher`s salaries should be doubled .....stop inflicting themselves on our children." We should try the first part of that sentence - & things should work out. Teachers can be good,bad.Like any job the bad ones should be ousted.But that does not nullify the fact that good teachers are getting paid lousy wages,in a system that banks upon the goodwill and respect they have for kids to make up the gap between wages and job description.The lack of respect is from the government -you should direct your anger towards them-not the teachers. Teaching gets a bad rap because of the summer holidays - but even if you divide up the yearly wage over 9 months it is still very low... Before you judge teachers so harshly, taxes should be used to give teachers suitable working conditions & pay. Don't expect too much of teachers earning a pittance.After the first2-3 years they realise they are working too hard for the money,scale down & direct their energies to a second job after school
Maybe instead of concentrating on the right to strike - They should study civics themselves - including the part where we elect a government which then decides on the budget priorities and that is called democracy. Or maybe they could study the real world - not the pampered world of the schoolsystem if you are lousy at your job you are fired. If you do not turn up for work you are fired. If you do not do what is expected of you, you are fired. Teacher's salaries should be doubled - those that are fit to remain in the profession - the others should stop inflicting themselves on our children. Now that the debate has been opened - it needs to be recognized that the role of the education system is not to level the playing field - it is to allocate resources fairly - it is also to enable the able to excell and that should no longer be a dirty word