On Wednesday, Israel’s teachers’ union went on a one-day strike, closing kindergartens and elementary schools, and leaving parents with a headache over what to do with the estimated 1. 5 million young people trapped at home.
The one-day strike came after schools opened their doors for several days two hours late, as the teachers’ union stressed the Ministry of Finance in a dispute over wages and operating conditions.
Although many parents said they supported the union’s crusade for higher wages, some felt punished and regretted that this affected their children.
Special education facilities opened Wednesday as before. Students from sixth grade onwards, who ended the school year on Monday, will not continue to strike.
The head of the National Council of Parents, Merom Shiff, criticized the teachers’ union for staging a strike even as the Finance Ministry said it intended to continue negotiations despite the planned dissolution of the Knesset.
Shiff told public broadcaster Kan: “There is virtually no gap between the Treasury and the Histadrut [Federation of Labour]. If the finance minister says he is entering into extensive negotiations despite the political situation, then what explanation is there for a strike today, if talks begin on Sunday?”
Amid a coalition crisis, the government set out to begin the Knesset dispersal procedure on Wednesday, prompting general elections later this year.
The afternoon programs, which take place from 1:30 p. m. to 6:30 p. m. or 2:00 p. m. at 16:30 in and kindergartens, they were going to operate as usual.
Some local governments have discovered tactics to circumvent the strike by expanding those programs so that already enrolled youth are cared for all day, or by having kindergartens run by assistant coaches. Childminders are not part of the union and are hired through the municipality that the Ministry. of Education.
But many parents have found themselves without a solution to take care of their children one day at work.
“I have paintings and I don’t know what to do,” Avi Sarusi, head of the Lod city’s parent council and a member of the National Parents’ Council, told the Ynet news site. “We don’t have a grandmother. At this rate, we will have to adopt a transient grandmother who will accept to be with our children.
Sarusi said he supports the teachers’ campaign, lamented that “in the end they are punishing us. “
“There is a limit to what is still tasteful,” Sarusi said. “We met with the finance minister and fought for the rights of teachers, kindergartens and assistants, and then they harm those who fight on their behalf. “
An immigrant mother of two young children said she did not have a close circle of relatives to help care for the children.
“I still have no option to be with the children,” Talya Yaakov, a mother of two children over the ages of 6 and 3, told the Walla news site. “I feel like I’m suffocating. “
“I can’t, we’re going through this after two years of coronavirus, quarantines and lockdowns,” said Jacob, who immigrated 11 years ago from the United States. “It’s a circus and a punishment for children. “
A mother of five of Bnei Brak, known as Rachel, told Ynet that the strike would be futile and that parents would oppose teachers.
“The teachers’ crusade wants to be carried out in a different way, as this motivates parents to hate teachers and they will not do it to achieve the goal,” he said. parents. “
Schools are expected to finish the year next week.
The teachers’ union recently made two-hour moves at the beginning of the school day, forcing categories to start later than usual.
At the heart of the existing dispute are reforms planned through the Ministry of Finance to lessen the strength of the teachers’ union, as well as allow principals to fire without union intervention and reduce the pay gap between old and new teachers.
“We will continue with the sanctions until the Ministry of Finance puts a concrete offer on the table,” union leader Yaffa Ben David said in a letter to teachers on Tuesday. “We will continue to fight for our rights and raise wages for all of you. “
The Finance Ministry said in reaction to the strike announcement that “the conduct of the teachers’ union at the expense of parents and students at this time is not entirely transparent to us. “
The ministry said it will “continue to insist on an agreement on teacher salaries, which will bring relief to parents and the economy through the coordination of [students’] holidays with their parents, and which will promote excellence. “
Shortly before Tuesday’s announcement, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman met with leaders of the National Council of Parents. He reiterated his willingness to adjust the number of holidays in schools to be similar to the number of holidays presented to staff in other fields, with the aim of relieving pressure on running parents.
“Without matching vacation schedules and rewarding excellence, no deal makes sense,” Liberman said, according to news site Ynet.
The parents’ council voted in favor of raising teachers’ salaries, but criticized the union for “calling for wild movements at the height of the talks that were going to move forward. “He suggested to the Ministry of Finance that it seek a court order contrary to the Strike.
An unsourced report from Channel 12 News on Tuesday said the two sides had reached an agreement but that the Finance Ministry is delaying the signing as it first needs to succeed in a wider agreement with the National Federation of Histadrut Labour.
Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton told Army Radio that officials at her ministry were in a position to set a date for the signing of an agreement at the end of August, but that the Treasury is dragging things out “as usual” and that they were “waiting until the last minute. “
The union is demanding that new teachers earn a monthly salary of NIS 10,000 ($2,981), as well as a big improvement in the salaries of experienced teachers.
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