The Histadrut threatens a general strike in support of teachers
The secondary school teachers’ strike entered its 25th day today as the Histadrut threatened to declare a general strike unless the Israeli government entered into “sincere negotiations” with the striking teachers.
A court hearing on whether to issue back-to-work orders for the striking teachers was postponed yesterday, after Ofer Eini, the Chairman of the Histadrut, offered to mediate between the government and the Secondary School Teachers’ Association (SSTA).
Ofer Eini has proposed a solution to the conflict, consisting of four points:
1. Secondary-school teachers would receive a pay raise of 26 percent, over five years.
2. In return, teachers would work an additional three hours per week (not in classroom instruction).
3. The pay raise would apply to all teachers.
4. The sides would start talks on reforms, such as reducing classroom size and restoring slashed instruction hours, as teachers have demanded.
The SSTA’s chair, Ran Erez, agreed to this proposal in principle, but the Finance and Education ministries have refused to negotiate on it. Despite this, the Histadrut is trying to arrange a meeting today between treasury officials, Ofer Eini, Yuli Tamir, the Education Minister, and Ran Erez.
The Histadrut has said that if it transpires the government is unwilling to negotiate in earnest, it will cease to serve as broker and place itself squarely behind the teachers. Yuli Tamir said the main obstacle in the negotiations is the SSTA's demand for a 15 percent wage increment for all the teachers and that “this difference cannot be bridged”.