VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #3493/01 3451551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111551Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4538

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003493 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB IS SOCI
SUBJECT: UNION AND GOVERNMENT REPORTEDLY REACH TENTATIVE 
AGREEMENT AFTER ISRAELI LABOR COURT ORDERS STRIKING 
SECONDARY TEACHERS BACK TO WORK 
 
REF: TEL AVIV 3232 
 
¶1. Summary.  On December 4, The National Labor Court ordered 
striking teachers back to work following the Hanukah 
festival.  The court also ordered the teachers and government 
to continue negotiating.  Education Minister Yuli Tamir was 
quoted as being satisfied with the decision, and calling for 
the Secondary School Teachers Organization (SSTO) to return 
to the negotiating table.  On December 9, PM Olmert called on 
the SSTO to conclude negotiations by the end of Hanukah 
vacation so that the education system would not have to 
operate under court orders.  SSTO chairman Ran Erez harshly 
criticized the court's decision, however, and had previously 
protested that the state was "refusing to negotiate." 
According to media reports, the two sides reached an 
agreement in principle during December 10 meetings that would 
have for the teachers to return to work December 13 following 
the Hanukah holiday.  The agreement includes a modest wage 
increase and reduced class sizes in exchange for more 
teaching hours.  Concurrently, hundreds of teachers protested 
PM Olmert's December 10 speech at the Israeli Business 
Conference.  Histadrut contacts said that a national strike 
(reftel) is unlikely for now.  End summary. 
 
¶2. Most secondary teachers in Israel have been striking off 
and on since April 2007 over low wages, large classes, and 
increased work loads.  This fall's SSTO strike has been far 
and away the longest teachers' strike since at least 1978, 
according to Shlomo Maital of Technion Institute of 
Management in a recent Jerusalem Report article.  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, two 
major elements of the proposed changes to the educational 
system that the SSTO has rejected.  (Members of a smaller 
secondary teachers' union accepted those conditions when they 
settled with the government in 2006.  The Government has run 
some expensive newspaper ads with members of the smaller 
union extolling the deal, while at the same other members of 
the smaller union have been out demonstrating in support of 
the SSTO and against the deal their union struck.) 
 
¶3. SSTO leader Erez told LRO that GOI education funding and 
policies are bringing down the historically high level of 
Israeli schools.  Recent media reports have echoed that 
alarm, citing declining test scores by Israeli students.  For 
example, a December 4 Jerusalem Post report said that Israeli 
students ranked 40th out of 57 countries that took part in an 
international examination of reading, math and science for 
15-year-olds.  A related concern is that the financial 
struggles and personal frustrations facing many teachers are 
driving the best ones out of the profession -- or dissuading 
them from entering it in the first place.  A December 6 
Haaretz article told the story of a 32 year old teacher of 
children with severe learning disabilities whose salary is 
approximately $1,300 a month -- extremely low wages in an 
expensive country like Israel -- and is currently supporting 
himself as a waiter.  The article describes him as feeling 
defeated and humiliated, and unsure as to whether he will 
defy the court's back-to-work order.  It is unclear not only 
how many of the teachers will return to work this month as 
ordered, but how many might choose to never return to work at 
all. 
 
¶4. According to media reports, the two sides reached an 
agreement in principal during December 10 meetings that would 
have the teachers return to work -- without a court order -- 
on December 13, following the Hanukah holiday.  Lost school 
days will apparently be returned to students during the 
Passover holiday and summer vacation.  The agreement includes 
reduced class sizes and more teaching hours, and a modest but 
immediate 8.5 percent wage increase that could rise to a 26 
percent raise as part of a broader reform that is still being 
negotiated.  Meetings between the Government and the SSTO 
continued on December 11.  Olmert - who did not meet Erez 
until a December 9 ceremony to light Hanukah candles - warned 
at a December 2 cabinet meeting that a wage hike would not be 
"gratuitous," meaning more teaching hours. 
 
¶5. Comment.  Recent polls suggest that 64% of the public 
supported the teachers' position, and more than 100,000 
parents and other backers gathered at a November 17 rally in 
support of the teachers.  The public support does not seem to 
have led to much political support, however.  PM Olmert's 
latest reported offer of an 8.5 per cent wage increase would 
still leave the salary for new teachers below the poverty 
line.  If the reported agreement stands, the teachers will 
back to work, although a final agreement would still need to 
be worked out.  The question of whether all the teachers will 
return, and whether the SSTO membership will consider the 
agreement a satisfactory response to the demands they have 
were willing to shut down the schools for almost two months 
 
 
in support of, remains to be seen.  End comment. 
 
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JONES