University heads: Deal with lecturers in 2 days or semester canceled

The heads of Israel's public universities have set a Thursday deadline for settling the wage dispute with the striking senior lecturers. Should both sides fail to strike a deal by then, the first semester of the academic year will be cancelled altogether, the university heads said at the conclusion of a meeting at Bar-Ilan University with the lecturers and Treasury officials late Monday.

"The window of time available for both sides is 48 hours," the university heads said in a released statement. "If there is no agreement within the next two days, the semester is cancelled."

The meeting was attended by Education Minister Yuli Tamir, university leaders, representatives of the lecturers, representatives form the committee for higher education, and treasury officials, including Eli Cohen, the treasury's head of wages.

The presidents of the country's universities met in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss whether to cancel the semester after the National Labor Court decided late Sunday night not to issue back-to-work orders for the striking senior lecturers.

The meeting ended late Monday evening without yielding any results.

The presidents had requested the injunctions to force professors back to work. Meanwhile, the strike at the universities will continue into its 85the day. Junior faculty members at Hebrew University joined the strike on Monday for four hours, with students blocking entry to the campus.

The court's president, Judge Steve Adler, said the matter of injunctions would be discussed again at a hearing next Monday, and instructed the sides to intensify their negoations and report on progress by Sunday.

The strike, which began on October 21 over professors claims that their wages have eroded by 35 percent over the last decade, has cast a shadow over the rest of the academic year. The university presidents had previously said the fall semester would be canceled if the lecturers did not go back by Sunday, and that the cancellation effectively means the loss of the entire school year.

Earlier Sunday, Bar-Ilan University president Prof. Moshe Kaveh, who heads the committee of university presidents, had threatened that "if the court does not issue back-to-work orders, we will declare the school year canceled." However, he later said there are "a few days" to go before the year is canceled.

The strike could affect the next school year as well, causing it to start a week or two later than usual, said a source in the university presidents committee.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on the lecturers Sunday to go back to class on their own, but for the most part he has refrained from intervening in the strike, despite the requests of university presidents, lecturers and students. Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel met with the university presidents Sunday, to no avail.

But students might not be able to complete the academic year even if the labor court does force the lecturers back into the classroom - in part because the lecturers say they plan to do only the minimum required by law, although additional classes will be needed to make up for the missed hours.

The head of the communications department at Haifa University, Dr. Jonathan Cohen, has already announced that he will quit his post if the court orders go through, saying he would no longer be able to mediate between the administration and the faculty in his department.

"I do not have the necessary faith in the university administration in order to represent it to my colleagues," he said.

Kaveh acknowledged that the university presidents will be in an awkward situation if their request is granted.

"If they issue [back-to-work] orders, the presidents situation will be complicated," said Kaveh. "But it's our obligation to 120,000 students."

	Students and teachers rally outside the National Labor Court in Jerusalem Sunday. (Tomer Neuberg / Jini)