The Finance Ministry and the Teachers Union reached an understanding regarding pay cuts on Sunday evening after even more teachers threatened to call in sick on Monday.
This put an end to the strike initiated by teachers in schools and kindergartens that took place on Sunday morning and was cut short at 10:00 a.m. by Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Labor Court Justice Osnat Rubowitz-Barchash.
Rapid negotiations occurred throughout Sunday on a saga consisting of ministerial finger-pointing, pay cuts, and exasperated parents.
The issue pertains to a 3.3% cut of teachers’ salaries. The teachers said that they did not receive appropriate compensation for the pay cut, unlike Histadrut labor federation workers, who received several more vacation days to make up for the cuts.
Teachers were shocked to receive their paychecks on Independence Day only to find that severe cuts were made to their salaries.
Warnings about a possible strike in lieu of these expected cuts began as early as on the days leading up to Passover, when the Teachers’ Union called a labor dispute.
What the sides agreed to then was to lessen the pay cuts by half and to add vacation days to the teachers’ calendars as compensation.
Finance Ministry cuts budget because of war
The decision to strike came after the Finance Ministry imposed budget cuts on teachers’ salaries due to what it said were war expenses.
It is estimated that the strike on Sunday involved about 25,000 teachers across the country, many of whom informed parents already on Saturday night that they would be taking sick leave, and with educational institutions announcing closures. Throughout Sunday, several more teachers warned that they would take a sick day on Monday as well as part of the strike.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch voted for the pay cuts as part of a larger plan to curb the financial damage effectuated by the war, but said that he opposed the resulting discrimination against teachers.
The negotiations came as a result of a long meeting on Sunday between Kisch, figures from the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and representatives on behalf of the teachers.
Late on Saturday night, the government submitted an injunction against the planned strike. A court debate began early on Sunday morning, during which Rubowitz-Barchash said she was confused as to why the injunction request came so late.
The court order cut the strike short by one hour on Sunday. The government representatives said in court that it was not legitimate to threaten it at the last minute with “a nationwide protest.”
This was not a surprise at all, the Teachers Union said in response, as the teachers had said that they would not strike on the week of Remembrance Day but would aim for this week instead.
“We are not arguing over the pay cut. Rather, we are arguing over the fact that other public servants received compensation, owed to them by law, for their pay cuts, whereas we did not,” the union added.
Kisch fully supported the teachers’ fight, but doubled back and agreed to push for the injunction after pressure came in from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The education minister said on Sunday, “I fully support the teachers and their fight. They deserve compensation for the pay cuts, just like other public servants have received.”
He added that the Finance Ministry “has acted outrageously” in its negotiations with the Teachers Union.However, Kisch also criticized the educational staff for “starting up a grassroots fight when negotiations were underway.”
Smotrich said that the pay cuts “apply equally to all public service jobs – not just to teachers – as part of the war effort plan, which encompasses over NIS 250 billion.”
“Out of the NIS 60b. that was cut, NIS six million was designated as a temporary freeze in pay raises,” he added.
Smotrich charged that Teachers Union head Yaffa Ben David “chose to incite the teachers by spreading lies and making them feel like they are not being cared for and are being discriminated against.”
Ronit, a mother of two children in Tel Aviv, told Maariv, “This is a mess – there is no other word for it. My husband and I both work, and in a situation like this, the childcare ends up falling to us.”
“I understand the teachers, though – if their pay is being cut, they need to fight back,” she continued. “I arranged for my children to be with their grandparents this morning, but this is not a long-term solution.”
Fellow parent Itay, who had no other choice but to stay home on Sunday to care for his children, said that the Finance Ministry was at fault.
“The teachers are not to blame. If they were respected, this would never have happened,” he said.
“Of course, this affects me – I am an independent employee, and this could cost me money – but it is unreasonable to expect people to work without being respected and without being given a fair paycheck.”
Merav, a teacher in southern Tel Aviv, said, “I love my job, but lowering our paychecks even more is impossible. This is not the first time that we have been mistreated, and silence will only encourage this mistreatment. I apologize to the parents, but this is the only way for us to fight for basic work conditions.”