Advancement of violence protection bill leads teachers to cancel planned strike

Due to the nationwide teachers strike called for Sunday, Shmuel Abuav, Director General of the Education Ministry announced to Ran Erez, chairman of the teachers Association, that the bill proposed by the Teachers’ Association from August 2016 to combat violence against Israeli teachers will be expedited in the Knesset and a Committee meeting will be held next Sunday, on December 10.

As a result, Erez cancelled Sunday’s strike that would have affected some 700,000 pupils from grades seven through twelve.

The Teachers Association called off the strike in a statement released on Friday afternoon: “The Teachers’ Association declared a general strike on Sunday after struggling for over a year to get the country out of a state of indifference when it comes to violence against teachers in Israel.”

Adding: “the Association demanded that a law be enacted which was introduced last August. Since then, nothing was done and the violence has only intensified. In light of the written commitment from the education ministry that declared an agreement with the association for the eradication of violence against teachers in Israel, the teachers association announced the cancellation of the strike.”

After receiving the letter from Abuav on Friday, Erez called off the strike that was originally declared after a teacher in Tel Sheva was knocked unconscious by a pupil who knocked her over the head with a metal rod on Wednesday.

Welcoming the news from Abuav Ran Erez said in a statement on Friday: “I praise today’s commitment of the Education Ministry’s Director General to implement the legislation to eliminate violence against teachers as demanded by the Teacher’s Association. We demand that the Education Ministry works hard and dedicates itself against anyone who acts violently against a teacher in Israel.”

Despite schools operating as usual on Sunday, the Teachers Association made it clear that the

This does not mean that the salary disputes between them and the Finance Ministry has been solved.

The Teachers Association has been on strike since November 12, after salary negotiations between it and the Finance Ministry broke down.

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