שלום לחברות וחברי הסגל,
מצורף מכתב עדכון מטעם המועצה המתאמת לגבי המשא ומתן מול האוצר וור"ה המראה גם את קצב הניסיונות לפגיעה ממשית ושיטתית בעצמאות האקדמיה שהואץ מאוד לאחרונה.
אני מתכבד להזמין אתכן/ם לאסיפה כללית על מנת לקבל את אישורכם לשביתה ללא הגבלת זמן בסמסטר ב.
על פי תקנון הארגון נדרשת נוכחות/השתתפות של לפחות 100 חברי ארגון לקבלת החלטה ליציאה לשביתה ארוכה יותר משבוע.
האסיפה תתקיים בזום בתאריך ה 29/3/23 בשעה 14:00. את פרטי הזום ניתן למצא במייל שנשלח לכלל חברי/ות הסגל הבכיר.
השתתפותכם חשובה
בברכה אורן תירוש –יו"ר ארגון הסגל הבכיר
Hello all faculty members,
Please find attached (and below( a letter from the Coordinating Council regarding the negotiations with the department of the Treasury and the Universities.
The letter also updates on the attempts to seriously and systematically damage the independence of the Academy, which has recently accelerated.
I am inviting you to a general assembly in order to receive your approval for an unlimited strike in the second semester of 2023. According to the organization's bylaws, the presence/participation of at least 100 organization members is required to decide to go on strike for more than a week.
The meeting will be held on Zoom on 3/29/23 at 2:00 p.m details were sent today via email.
March 13, 2023
Dear Faculty Members,
At the time of writing this update, our country is in turmoil. Many of you may believe that it is not the appropriate time to fight for the renewal of our salary agreement. This is a period of great unrest as we are fighting for the future of democracy in Israel. This letter will explain why these two issues are not conflicting; we will inform you regarding recent developments in negotiations; and we will clarify why we must continue to fight for our rights and wages, especially when one considers the potential dangers to academia in general, and more specifically, to our academic freedom.
The main role of faculty organizations is to maintain job security for its members and uphold academic freedom. These rights, which are reflected in our terms of employment and wage agreements, are under continuous attack. Our salary structure, which is predominately determined by a collective agreement (the remainder calculated by personal criteria and performance) allows us to organize and stand up for our rights and our academic freedom as a collective, and also enables recruitment, preservation, and promotion of outstanding researchers, in various fields.
For the past year and a half the we have been trying to negotiate a renewal of the expired employment agreement, and compensation for erosion of our wages since the last agreement ended 3 years ago. We are not requesting an increase in salary.
Instead of productive negotiations, the university heads administrators and the Finance Ministry officials, criticize the quality and efficiency of the academic system in an attempt to weaken us. The management and regulators are carrying this out by making demands. For example, they want to require a transition to personal contracts for faculty members, they want to harm faculty members who they consider have low productivity, and most recently they are suggesting a cut in allocations and limitations in the use of our funds for scientific collaborations (קק"מ).
If we don't protect our working conditions and wages now, it is highly possible that it will be significantly more difficult in the future or become impossible to negotiate any agreement.
Despite repeated promises to hold serious negotiations immediately following the approval of the national budget by the government, and following agreement with the Histadrut- Workers Union, everything is being delayed, and all future meetings have been canceled. The Ministry of Finance is unwilling to present a new budget framework as a starting point for discussion, and negotiations are not progressing.
As of today, the Committee of University Heads have not demonstrated sufficient responsibility and leadership and have not behaved as expected in negotiating labor relations between staff and employer. Often they are silent, but they also have made negative suggestions and prefer to let the finance officials lead them in the negotiations, while neglecting the future interests of the universities.
We remind everyone that we are in a labor dispute. If the negotiations do not progress, we will take administrative action and possibly declare a general strike. Soon you will receive an update from your faculty organization regarding the date of a general staff meeting to approve striking and deciding on an appropriate time.
The fight to renew our salary agreement is also a fight for the soul of academia. We stand together, solidarity between faculty members in different fields with different ranks; we stand for our right to organize, protest, and maintain our job security and academic freedom.