Psychological services staff at Tel Aviv and Ben-Gurion Universities unionized under the HIstadrut last week, empowering dozens of psychologists, interns, supervisors, and specialists responsible for the mental health care of thousands of students. Amichai Stinger, head of the Histadrut unionizing division, sent a letter to the university heads calling for immediate negotiations to regulate the workers’ conditions through a collective agreement.
The move comes amid growing recognition of the importance of psychological service personnel in academia, who are on the front lines of mental health support for students, especially reservists facing severe psychological distress due to the war. Those receiving services also include faculty members who have experienced loss and students whose partners are reservists. Alongside the employees at the two universities, additional therapeutic staff from other academic institutions across the country are currently working to organize under the Histadrut.
“We entered this field with a deep sense of mission, and most of us are paying a tremendous financial price, as we are forced to work multiple jobs just to make a living,” the interim union said in a statement. They noted that psychological service workers at universities can make just half of what public sector psychologists make following the reform in public sector psychologists wages.
“Given the current cost of living, these wages do not allow for a dignified existence and harm our training process as therapists,” the union said. “That is why we chose to join the Histadrut to formalize our status. We would like to thank our colleagues for their solidarity and hope that the university administrations will respect the employees’ wishes.”
