Israel's teacher strike will not include middle school - Ed. Ministry

The Israeli Education Ministry announced on Saturday evening that middle schools will not be taking part in Sunday's teacher strike set to take place in Israeli high schools on Sunday.

According to the ministry, the court ruled that the chairman of the teachers' organization, Ran Erez, does not have the authority to shut down the middle schools. 

The chairman of the teachers' organization, Ran Erez, announced on Friday that on Sunday there will be a one-day warning strike in Israeli high schools, with the exception of special education.

"We are embarking on a fight for a proper salary, and demand that the salary of a beginning teacher in secondary education in Israel be 12,000 NIS per month," Erez explained, reportedly frustrated with a whole year of deliberate procrastination by the Finance Ministry.

Erez's strike announcement

"After a whole year of giving opportunities to the Finance and Education Ministries to negotiate matters with the teachers' union regarding the salaries of secondary education teachers," Erez said in a statement on Friday, "the teachers' union announced that a one-day warning strike will be held in secondary education this coming Sunday, with the exception of ... special education."

He also said that "the strike comes as a result of the fact that the Finance Ministry refuses to negotiate matters with the teachers' union, and the teachers of secondary education [have not had] salary agreements for an entire year. The demand of the teachers' union is that the salary of a teacher starting in secondary education should be NIS 12,000. The Finance Ministry disregards teachers and the decisions of the National Labor Court, which ordered the state several times to hold meaningful and continuous negotiations and reach agreements regarding teachers' salaries. The Finance Ministry is abusing the patience shown by the teachers' union for a whole year and dragging its feet on purpose."