Schechter management, workers reach agreement

“Signing this agreement means a new page for employees and management,” says Prof. Yossi Turner, chairman of the workers committee.

By RUTH EGLASH
A 49-day all-out strike by faculty and staff at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem reached an end on Friday, with management and the workers’ union signing an agreement that would return losses reaching some NIS 1.5 million and give power to the union created in the wake of on-going negotiations.
“Signing this agreement means a new page for employees and management,” said Prof. Yossi Turner, chairman of the workers committee and head of the negotiating team for the striking employees, in a statement. “This is an important step to creating a viable workers committee in our place of work.” In response to Friday’s agreement, the management released a statement on Sunday saying that students who had completed 80 percent of their coursework before the strike could either receive a passing grade or appeal to receive a mark.
More than 80 Schechter employees have been in dispute with the institute’s management after their salaries were cut by up to 10% last year following the death of the institute’s single largest donor, American billionaire William Davidson, and in light of the global economic crisis.