HU faculty: No confidence in president

Magidor among presidents seeking back-to-work orders; students to mark longest strike ever.

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
Hebrew university 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Hebrew university 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
The faculty of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem voted Tuesday during their general assembly meeting to pass a no-confidence motion in the university's president Prof. Menachem Magidor until he rescinds his request for back-to-work orders. Magidor is one of six university presidents who turned to the National Labor Court to help bring the strike to an end. In their petition, they requested back-to-work orders against the professors, a move which sent a wave of shock and outrage through the ranks of the lecturers. Such a move could, technically, be the beginning of proceedings to remove him, but it is unlikely such a move will actually succeed. Similar measures have been taken at several of the other major universities. Representatives of the lecturers, the presidents and the Treasury will reconvene at the court to continue negotiating on Wednesday morning. There were media reports that National Labor Court President Steve Adler had suggested a new basis for calculating wage erosion and for pegging university salaries on Monday. The professors had reportedly agreed to consider his suggestions. Meanwhile, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem student union will hold a "record-breaking" ceremony opposite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence on Wednesday morning to mark the university strike becoming the longest one in Israeli history. The strike will enter its 73 day on Wednesday. At the ceremony, the union will present various awards such as the "height of chutzpah," "height of ignorance or illiteracy," and the "height of foot-dragging." They will also award Olmert with a degree in dishonor from all of Israel's students. The 500 faculty members who attended the assembly meeting on Tuesday also decided to oppose a student tuition hike.