Petition to the High Court: The Teachers' Union does not work to pay for training days

These are a number of days in which teachers in their first year of work are required to attend the preparation days for the school year, without being paid.

The petition was submitted to the High Court after the Labor Court did not approve the filing of a class action against the Ministry of Education on the issue

Bini Ashkenazi

07/26/2022

Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 3:29 p.m. Updated: 3:40 p.m.

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Who will compensate the teachers for the preparation days for the school year? (Photo: ShutterStock)

In these days when the Teachers' Union is conducting negotiations with the Ministry of Finance on the terms of the teachers' employment, it is worth knowing the following story, which perhaps teaches about the discriminatory treatment received by new teachers compared to the veterans: last March, a petition was submitted to the High Court against the National Labor Court and Ministry Education on the grounds that the National Court did not approve filing a class action lawsuit against the Ministry of Education regarding non-remuneration of new teachers for preparation days for the school year.

, a teacher who is represented by

, claims that she and hundreds of other teachers were not paid for the preparation days that are held for new teachers (or for teachers who have returned from ).

The petitioner even contacted the Ministry of Education in order to understand why she does not receive pay for working days and the answer she received is that they do not receive payment for these days.

The Teachers' Union replied to her that the issue of payment for the preparation days "will stand as a requirement" in the negotiations for a new collective agreement, without specifying when these things will happen and what will be done in the meantime.

She was sorry, and after ten months in the Teachers' Union they did not reply to the petitioner when the demand for payment of wages would arise For the training days for new teachers, she submitted a request for approval of a class action against the Ministry of Education in the Regional Labor Court.

The regional court rejected the request on the procedural grounds that the Histadrut handles the issue. The petitioner, who she says knew that the Histadrut never made sure that wages were paid for the training days for the new teachers, She did not give up, and filed an appeal with the National Labor Court in Jerusalem, but the appeal was also rejected, which led Arieli Naim to file a petition with the High Court.

To the petition to the High Court, Arieli Naim attached the "schedule" that was sent to her (and to other teachers, of course, for the month of August) - as part of which she was required to show up for five days of "preparation" preparation, and she was also set an agenda for the day of preparation. It

should be noted that the only significant action that seemed to be significant by the Histadrut regarding payment for the preparation days was the opening of a "party request" in a collective dispute at the regional court, a move that was made only after Arieli's lawsuit was filed, and which also ended in nothing when they agreed (the state and the Histadrut ) to sit down for negotiations on the matter on the grounds that it was a 'corona year'.

According to the petitioner, the only action taken by the Teachers' Union was to open a side motion in the Regional Court - and she dismissed it as well (Photo: ShutterStock)

We are sure that they will win in the High Court as well

In recent days, the Histadrut submitted its response to the petition to the High Court through the Arna Lin law firm and argued, among other things, that the petition to the High Court should be rejected, because there was no oversight in the Labor Court's ruling and that the Teachers' Union acted to protect the winnings of All the teaching staff in relation to the preparation days, and they were even reduced and recognized by the National Insurance Institute as working days.

The Histadrut also claimed that with the establishment of the preparation days and the demand from school administrators to require teachers and teaching staff to participate in these meetings, the Histadrut directed the teaching staff and the educational institutions to limit the number of preparation days to only two days that will be held in the month of August only.

Another key point found in the Histadrut's response is that according to the Histadrut, it sees these days as a permission and not an obligation, but it seems that on this point there is a dispute between the Histadrut and the employer - the Ministry of Education.

that "the Labor Court has already rejected the claims of the plaintiffs against the Teachers' Union in two legal courts.

It was proven in the court that the Teachers' Union acted impeccably to protect the rights of all teaching staff in relation to the days of preparation. It was also proven that the actions of the Teachers' Union as a workers' organization bore fruit and led to achievements which are not subject to controversy such as: reducing the number of preparation days, recognizing these days as working days by the National Insurance Institute, paying travel expenses and offsetting the working hours on them from working days during the school year.

The Teachers' Union even appealed to the Labor Court, with a claim to order the state to pay for the preparation days in a way that anticipates both the past and the future.

Thanks to this request, the agreement was reached on the right to deduct the preparation hours from the working days - a significant achievement by all accounts.

It should be noted that the issue is also being dealt with within the current negotiations. We have no doubt that the High Court of Justice will also understand that the conduct of the Teachers' Union as a workers' organization was impeccable and will reject the petition - just as it was ruled in the previous courts." The

: "The Ministry will address the issue as part of the legal process. /"

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• Teachers Union

• Ministry of Education

• The Labour Court

• High Court