University presidents: Classes will be held regardless of strike
Education minister tries to convince lecturers not to go ahead with strike; university presidents cancel planned strike after they reach agreement with Treasury over budgetary supplement
The University Presidents' Council, which came to an agreement with the Finance Ministry earlier in the week to abandon their threats to strike in return for a budgetary supplement, called on students to come to classes on Sunday. Even if the strike goes on as planned, classes given by junior lecturers and substitute lecturers will be held as scheduled, they said. Additionally, libraries, laboratories, and administrative services will function normally.
In contrast to the lecturers, the university presidents managed to reach a compromise with the Finance Ministry regarding a budgetary supplement of approximately $180 million.
The planned strike will cause disruptions at the following institutions: Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, University of Haifa, the Weitzman Institute, Hebrew University, Bar-Ilan University and the Technion.
Some 4500 lecturers and academic staff are currently planning to go on strike in an attempt to reach a new agreement with the Finance Ministry over their wages. The last agreement between the government and the teaching staff was signed in 2001 and since then, the professors claim their salaries have suffered "erosion".
According to the academic staff, their salaries have "eroded" 15% in the last six years in addition to the 5% supplement that public workers received as part of a Histadrut (Labor Union) deal.
The junior staff supports them—but still plans to lecture
The junior staff supports the senior faculty members in their efforts, but is still planning on holding class on Sunday. That being said, the junior staff does not intend to fill in for the senior staff.
Following budgetary cuts in the higher education sector, there are thousands of substitute lecturers that are now employed in Israel's universities. These 'surrogate' lecturers receive a low salary, are not entitled to a pension or severance pay and receive no social benefits.
Substitute lecturers currently constitute about 40% of instructors at Israeli universities and makeup 80% at Israeli colleges. They are not protected by labor unions and as such are not scheduled to participate in Sunday's planned strike.
Dr Eli Lahar, director of the coordinating body of the junior academic staff, said that: "We support the senior staff and believe that their requests are completely justified. However, the considerable rise in the detrimental employment of surrogate lecturers in universities and colleges will weaken the strength of strike because this feeble group cannot strike and is not protected by labor unions.
"We call on the senior staff, as the leadership of the university, to abandon the strike and help us deal with the problems of substitute lecturers," he said.
