The Israel Teachers Union announced on Tuesday that it was ending its strike so regular classes would take place in kindergarten, elementary and middle schools on the last two days of the school year.
The union said it was calling off its strike because Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) conceded earlier in the day that the finance ministry can sign a new agreement with the teachers despite the collapse of the Bennett-Lapid government.
On Monday evening, the union had announced a nationwide strike on Tuesday, accusing the finance ministry of “shaming the teaching profession” and “taking advantage of the union’s good intentions.”
A Monday morning meeting between the union, the finance ministry, and the education ministry concluded without results, with the treasury offering only a small increase in teachers’ working conditions and wages.
The union is demanding that new teachers earn a starting monthly salary of 10,500 shekels, as well as a meaningful increase in the salaries of experienced teachers. The treasury had previously agreed to raise the wages to roughly 8,200 shekels.
According to a statement issued by a spokesperson for the union, the finance ministry has refused to offer more than 8,600 shekels as a starting wage for new teachers and only agreed on a small monthly raise for experienced teachers.
Union leader Yaffa Ben-David said that the finance ministry had “made a concrete offer for increasing teachers’ salaries” but added that there were still “significant gaps” between the union and the treasury.
“Unfortunately, the treasury has taken advantage of our good intentions to stop the strike and has held futile meetings,” Ben-David said.
“The offers they proposed are disrespectful to the teaching profession and will lead to the collapse of the education system.”
“We have been negotiating with treasury officials for over six months and the only offer they have put on the table is simply ridiculous,” she added.
“The officials don’t care about anything. Not about education, not about the students, and not about their parents. We warn again that despite our many attempts and goodwill gestures such as freezing the strike, the treasury is insisting on not solving the crisis, and is leading Israel to chaos during the next school year as well.”
It should be noted that Lieberman, like his fellow government ministers, earns a monthly salary of 50,673 shekels.
