Israel’s high school teachers will begin their planned strike tomorrow, the first day of the new school year, despite a last-minute negotiation session with the Education Ministry, according to Ran Erez, chairman of the Secondary Schools Teachers Association.
Erez stated in a late-night announcement, “There is no chance of finalizing a collective agreement overnight, even if an unexpected miracle occurs and our demands are met. Without a signed, complete agreement, the struggle will continue, and the strike will proceed as planned.”
The last-minute negotiations were not expected to prevent the strike.
The strike will officially affect instructors teaching grades 10 through 12, but some 9th-grade classes are also likely to be impacted.
The Secondary Schools Teachers Association has been in prolonged but stalled negotiations with the education and finance ministries. The teachers are demanding retroactive wage increases and other benefits that were agreed upon before the last school year but were postponed due to Hamas’s October 7 attack and the ongoing war.
