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Viewing cable 07TELAVIV3232, STRIKE BY SECONDARY TEACHERS THREATENS TO TURN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07TELAVIV3232 2007-11-07 16:15 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
VZCZCXYZ0013
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #3232/01 3111615
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071615Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4083
INFO RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 8375
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003232 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB IS SOCI
SUBJECT: STRIKE BY SECONDARY TEACHERS THREATENS TO TURN 
INTO GENERAL STRIKE 
 
 
1. (U) Summary. On November 5, the Israeli labor federation 
Histadrut threatened a general strike unless the Government 
enters into "sincere negotiations" with striking secondary 
teachers.  The announcement came after a November 4 meeting 
between Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini, Education Minister Yuli 
Tamir, and Treasury officials failed to produce any 
breakthrough.  The secondary teachers, who have been striking 
off and on since April, are seeking higher wages - the salary 
for new teachers falls below the poverty line -- as well as 
smaller and fewer classes.  In a meeting with Embassy Labor 
Reporting Officer (LRO), secondary teachers' union head Ran 
Erez complained that the government was endangering the 
future of the country with corporate-like practices that had 
damaged the education system.  An emotional Erez told LRO 
that he is "not prepared to stop" unless the Government meets 
their demands.  The Labor Court met November 6, but did not 
issue a ruling ordering the teachers back to work.  According 
to unconfirmed reports, Eini met with Tamir and Finance 
Minister Roni Bar-On November 7 and has agreed to act as 
mediator for the teachers' union.  Some observers expressed 
optimism that an agreement will be reached by the end of the 
week. End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Most secondary teachers in Israel have been striking 
off and on since April 2007 over low wages, large classes, 
and increased work loads.  The elementary teachers' union 
settled their strike in 2006 for a 26% wage increase over 
five years, but that came with an increase in both class size 
and number of classes taught, according to Histadrut and 
secondary teachers union contacts.  Members of a smaller 
secondary teachers' union, Hamorim, have accepted proposed 
changes to the educational system that the larger union has 
rejected, such as increased number and size of classes. 
(Hamorim is officially part of Histadrut, but is effectively 
independent from the labor federation, with headquarters 
separate from Histadrut's offices.)  University professors 
and lecturers are also on strike, and many have joined 
protests in support of the secondary teachers, but their 
union has not officially joined forces with the secondary 
teachers. 
 
------------------------------------- 
LOW SALARIES AND INCREASED WORK LOADS 
------------------------------------- 
 
3. (U) Salaries for Israeli secondary teachers are extremely 
low.  After obtaining a bachelor's degree, plus one year of 
teaching instruction, a new secondary teacher can expect a 
monthly salary of approximately $700.  Even with an 
additional government low-income supplement, the income for a 
new teacher falls under $1,000 a month and below the poverty 
line.  Most maids earn more than new secondary teachers, and 
many teachers, in fact, work as housekeepers (or other jobs) 
to supplement their income.  Teaching salaries do increase 
with experience, but a teacher with twenty years' experience 
still earns less than $2,000 a month.  With a reported cost 
of living in Tel Aviv higher than that in Rome, Vienna, 
Berlin or Los Angeles, these salaries do not provide an 
adequate standard of living. 
 
4. (U) In addition, work conditions for secondary teachers 
have deteriorated.  Erez reported that a typical class size 
is now 40-44 students "packed like sardines."  Shorter 
classes -- designed to increase the number of students taught 
per teacher, according to Erez, as more classes are taught in 
the same number of hours - result in each student receiving 
much less personal instruction than before.  Erez said that 
the work loads prevent teachers from adequately meeting the 
needs of either advanced or challenged students, as all 
instruction must be "at the same level" because the number 
and size of classes did not allow for anything but the most 
basic preparation or appraisal of homework and exams. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCES AND SOCIAL IMPACT 
------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) Erez complained that the Government was running 
education like a corporation, and cited several examples of 
what he considered the consequences of that philosophy.  He 
said the government was "worshipping the golden calf" of 
matriculation exams, teaching to tests rather than teaching 
the skills students will need to thrive in the future.  Erez, 
noting that the Government spends approximately nine times as 
much per prisoner as it does per student, was using "fright 
tactics" (such as security concerns about Iran and Syria) to 
distract the public from the consequences of neglect of the 
educational system. 
 
6. (U) Erez expressed great concern at what he described as 
the impact of GOI funding and policies for education.  He 
described a rise in dropouts (now 30,000 per year, according 
 
 
to Erez) with increasing frustration, vandalism, drug and 
alcohol abuse, bullying, and violence among teenagers.  The 
union chief said that the number of new teachers entering the 
system annually had dropped from 6,000 five years ago to 
4,000 today.  And Erez reported that Israeli students, who he 
said had topped world rankings in math and science in the 
1960's, now fell behind Iran at the International Academic 
Olympiad.  He pointed to rising divisions between different 
sectors of Israeli society -- recent media reports have 
examined the growing "social gap" in Israeli society -- were 
in large part the result of problems in the educational 
system.  Erez stressed that he was not only fighting for 
higher teacher salaries, but for educational reform.  He said 
nothing less than the quality of life in Israel -- and the 
future welfare of the country -- was at stake. 
 
------------------------------ 
PROSPECTS OF A NATIONAL STRIKE 
------------------------------ 
 
7. (U) The Histadrut contact thought it unlikely that the 
labor federation would actually call a general strike, but 
did not rule out the possibility.  Even if Eini is simply 
"flexing his muscles" -- as some have suggested - the 
teachers' union seems intent on holding its ground.  And with 
the Government concerned with "opening the floodgates" if 
they reach a more generous deal with the teachers -- the 
postal workers, for example, are also threatening a work 
stoppage -- the possibility of a nation-wide strike should 
not be dismissed.  Some government authorities reportedly are 
holding out hope that the Labor Court will order the striking 
teachers back to work, but the Court issued no ruling after a 
November 6 meeting.  Eini reportedly met with Tamir and 
Finance Minister Roni Bar-On November 7 and agreed to act as 
mediator for the teachers, but that has not been confirmed. 
Press reports said that Eini accused the Finance Ministry of 
trying to sabotage an agreement reached between the Education 
Ministry and the teachers' union that would have raised the 
teachers' salaries by 37 percent.  Nevertheless, some sources 
have expressed optimism that Eini will be able to forge a 
deal by the end of the week. 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
JONES