Secondary school teachers to strike Friday as court lifts injunction
National Labor Court urges Education, Finance Ministries to resume talks with teachers over wage disagreement.
By Or Kashti Tags: Israel educationThe Secondary School Teachers' Association will go on strike Friday, after the National Labor Court on Thursday lifted the injunction barring the association from striking over a wage dispute.
The judges urged the Finance and Education ministries and the teachers' association to resume their negotiations, which started in December of last year, to resolve the dispute.
The teachers are demanding a new wage agreement, a mechanism to determine the extent of the erosion of their wages, additional payment for work with children with special needs, and an increase of early retirement schemes.
At the end of August, five days before the start of the school year, the labor court decided to acquiesce to the government's request and issued a court order prohibiting the teachers from striking.
National Labor Court President Justice Steve Adler wrote in his ruling last month that "we must decide between the teachers right to strike due to their wage demands and the steps the association takes which would disrupt the start of the school year."
In the ruling, the court decided that "bridging the gap between the two sides is possible, in a quick and timely manner" thus making a strike unnecessary.
The injunction barred the teachers from striking until Thursday, when the court would reconvene, while instructing both sides to carry out "intensive negotiations with the sole purpose of settling the dispute."
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Israeli teachers make nothing here and work incredible hard. On top of that, they are often treated very badly by parents and administration. How is this country to survive without taking care of its teachers? After all it is the teacher who takes care of the next generation.
I just made Aliyah after teaching for almost a decade in the U.S. I have a master's degree. My salary here is a little more than a third of what I made last year in the States. In my opinion, Israel needs to address this discrepancy immediately if it wants smart, capable young people to choose teaching as a profession.
less than a third I've been teaching for thirteen years and teach 30+ hours a week and earn about $24000.
A first year teacher makes about 2,800 shekels, or about $700, a month. This is below minimum wage! Teachers in Israel can only dream of making $35,000, even if they have an M.A.
I am a teacher for 28 years, BA, Teaching certificate, 20 "gmulim" ( each "gmul" is 120 hours of study). I get 6000 NIS in the bank. Now you know. PS Add to that classes of 35-40 kids, integration of children with learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
In the US, in rural or small town areas, a beginning teacher in either high school or elementary would make around $35,000 with a B.A. This would be for around nine and a half months teaching time. In larger cities, it would be higher, considerably so in some cases.