Education min. workers to strike; teachers to go without pay

Administration and computer service workers at the Education Ministry are to initiate sanctions on Wednesday. As a result, the teachers' September salaries will not be paid, schools will not receive funds, and winter matriculation exams will be postponed.

The workers, backed by the Histadrut labor federation, are protesting the transfer of a large number of their jobs to a labor contractor.

The Education Ministry said a meeting between the sides would be held shortly, and that it had reached an arrangement with the chairman of the works committee to avoid the sanctions.

The struggle over a new labor agreement for teachers will begin after the holidays, and could include a strike, union leaders said on Tuesday.

"This is a fateful agreement that will include wages and the changed labor conditions of teachers following the reform," said Yossi Wasserman, head of the teachers union. "From our experience, this kind of struggle doesn't end without a big strike."

Wasserman said the new agreement would have to include better pay for teachers working a longer day, as well as pension considerations. "There haven't been negotiations this major in a long time," he said.

Every additional percentage point to a teacher's salary means an addition of NIS 150 million to the Education Ministry budget. According to Ran Erez, head of the Secondary School Teachers Association, the teachers will accept no less than a 10 percent increase, meaning an additional outlay NIS 1.5 billion.

The teachers are planning to start with a major PR blitz to persuade the public that improving education means improving teachers' employment conditions. This will be followed by sanctions.