The Histadrut is considering canceling classes tomorrow (Thursday) and not just a one-day strike.
This is to pressure the Ministry of Finance to return to the negotiating table.
During the day, the secretary general of the Teachers 'Union, Yaffa Ben-David, consults with her staff, which includes strategic advisers and legal advisers. Some of the considerations are how the strikes will affect public support for the teachers' struggle.
Today kindergarten and elementary school children (and with them the parents) stay home after a general strike of teaching staff for an entire day has been declared.
In the background, of course, is the political drama of the fall of the government and the expected dispersal of the Knesset.
Yaffa Ben-David sees the political chaos happening in the country and without a responsible adult feels that achievements that she will not be able to bring about now - will be more difficult to achieve at the end of the month (30.6), when the students have already gone on vacation and will be home anyway.
The political situation does not contribute either, if a new government is formed in the current Knesset there will be other ministers and perhaps other demands as well - which intensifies the uncertainty.
School strike, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Meanwhile, many local authorities are preparing for the continuation of the strike.
Parents have already been notified that if the classes do not take place, there will be an attempt to open the kindergartens through assistants as early as the morning.
Today not everyone had time to get ready and announced that they would run the daycare during normal hours - 13:30 to 16:00 - and some parents even announced that they would send their children.
Remember, the main teachers 'struggle is over the salaries of teaching staff (kindergarten teachers, teachers and educators) who belong to the teachers' union.
The argument is that the low salary and conditions lead to a large drop-out of teachers from the education system on the one hand and on the other - new teachers do not come because of the low starting salary.
The Ministry of Finance understands the distress and wants to raise the salaries mainly for the new, young teachers.
But Shifa Ben-David opposes and demands that the starting salary of a teacher be NIS 9-10,000 a month, but at the same time significant salary increases for veteran teachers as well.
The Ministry of Finance sees itself as guarding the public coffers - and not in a hurry to accept the demands.
The problem that bothers parents the most is the lack of synchronization between their and the economy's vacation days and the students' vacation days.
The Treasury wants the current wage increase to come alongside a change in vacation days, but Yaffa Ben-David flatly refuses.
It also refuses to remunerate teaching staff on the basis of excellence and not just on seniority - arguing that in the Treasury salaries are rising accordingly.
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