Teachers Association and finance ministry reach an impasse
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For two weeks now, the Teachers' Association has been unable to reach understandings with the Ministries of Finance and Education about a wage agreement, and is halting full or partial studies in high schools throughout the country.
"We demanded a salary of NIS 8,000 for starting teachers who now earn NIS 6,300 and the Finance Ministry agreed," Ran Erez, head of the Secondary School Teachers Association, told Ynet Sunday evening, "but we demanded that the addition be from September 2017, and the treasury refuses and is prepared that it be implemented only in another year."
As for veteran teachers, Erez said he demanded an additional NIS 500 a month. According to him, the treasury agreed to this addition, but in installments that will be spread over four years. "It means a little more than NIS 100 extra in a month, and we're not ready for that," he said."
"We also want to raise salaries for principals, but the discourse has not yet begun, the Finance Ministry is stonewalling, and this struggle will only get worse until we get back to normal," Erez asserted.
The finance ministry replied that "Ran Erez comes every few days with additional demands beyond what has already been agreed. We refuse these demands for two reasons: one is because it has a budget cost far above the cost agreed between the parties, and the second is that we are interested in attracting new and quality manpower to the education system, and in the end we will create a situation where the main funds of the agreement will be given to long-term teachers who enjoy high salaries and are at the end of their professional careers."
