The battle between the Ministry of Finance and the Teachers' Union is showing its signs on the ground, and one of the ways in which it is manifested is in tension between young teachers who have just been absorbed into the education system and earn relatively low wages, and veteran teachers who have accumulated teaching years.
The Ministry of Finance mainly wants to raise the salaries of new teachers, and some argue that this leads to tension between the two groups, as the young teachers feel that the old ones are trying to push sticks in the wheels of the Finance move.
Message in the group of teachers,
Discussions about this in different groups of teachers have intensified in recent days.
Thus, for example, one of the pages of the network that addresses teachers reads: "The Ministry of Finance has managed to make young teachers (at least a lot of those I encounter in reality and online) think that the 'high' salary of veterans is what causes low salary of young people."
This is what an English teacher from the center of the country wrote.
"Makes young people think that because of the veterans there is no money left, and there are those who incite this, among others, elements in the government. It is a pity that there are those who fall into such manipulations."
Another teacher wrote in one of the groups: "Young teachers who complain about the salaries of the veteran teachers - the veterans came to their salaries after years of blood, sweat and tears. So maybe instead of splitting forces and seeing the veteran teachers as your new enemies, think again."
Whereas one of the respondents who introduces himself as a teacher replied: "And maybe veteran teachers will stop looking only at themselves?"
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Photo: Hadas Porush, Flash 90
On the other hand, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman claims that the Teachers' Union is conducting a campaign aimed at influencing the public.
"We are surprised by the aggressive and forceful campaign in the media, and also by the steps taken to announce them," he said.
Intergenerational tension
In negotiations there are many disagreements on two main issues.
The first is what the salaries of beginning teachers will be, and the second concerns the salaries of veteran teachers.
As for beginning teachers, even in the Treasury it is clear that it must rise.
The question is to what extent.
The Histadrut demands a salary of NIS 10,000 for a beginning teacher, and on the other hand, the Ministry of Finance does not intend to respond to this demand easily, and according to the Histadrut, they were offered NIS 8,200.
The second main struggle concerns the salaries of veteran teachers - if the salaries increase by a certain rate for all teachers, the veteran teachers will receive more supplements than the younger ones.
The Teachers' Union claims that the Ministry of Finance has offered them that the salaries of teachers who have been in the system (seniority) for more than 15 years will not be updated.
The tension in the teachers' room is not only related to the salary, but also to the relations between the generations.
In an article previously published in "Israel Today", young teachers said that they feel that the veterans are a conservative generation, who see themselves as having exclusive knowledge.
According to them, the veteran teachers are afraid of their place and turn their backs on them in the teachers' room.
A survey of 1,500 principals in the education system shows that about half of them are dissatisfied with the new teachers who have been absorbed into the school.
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