Labor Court ends teachers' strike

The National Labor Court on Tuesday approved the State's request to issue injunction orders to the striking members of the Middle and High School Teacher's Association, effectively ending the 48-day strike.

Near midnight the court ruled that teachers would be required to resume classes on December 13th, immediately following the Hanukkah vacation.

The Education and Finance Ministries filed the injunction request last week, prompting a series of hearings during which the court essentially acted as a mediator in the negotiations.

The sides will continue to negotiate an agreement over the course of the next few days. Should they fail to reach a settlement by the end of the vacation – the injunctions, somewhat irrelevant at the moment, will come into play.

"Students have lost some 3,225,00 hours of schooling during this time, teachers have suffered greatly from a financial point of view – something which may sour the professional satisfaction of work as an educator. The negotiations, though frequent and intensive, have not resulted in an agreement that is acceptable to both the government and the teacher's association," wrote Judges Steve Adler, Nili Arad and Yigal Plitman in their ruling. The injunctions, they said, would prevent teachers and students from suffering any more harm while negotiations were still faltering.

Education Minister Yuli Tamir called on the teachers to make the most of the remaining days and negotiate their willing return to the classrooms.

Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On said the injunctions were "a last resort" and welcomed the court's decision to bring 600,000 students back to school.

A poll conducted for Ynet by the Rafi Smith Institute revealed that 64% of the public support the teacher's in their struggle while only 19% said they support the government's position. The remaining 17% said they did not have an opinion on the matter.

Tani Goldstein contributed to this report