Teaching assistants and other junior faculty across Israel began an open-ended strike Sunday after the breakdown of talks over pay and workplace conditions, reports The Jerusalem Post. Some 9,300 staff members are involved, with every public university affected except for Bar-Ilan University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The junior faculty members say government representatives have failed to make good on promises to regularize their status in talks that have been continuing on and off since 2008.

Junior lecturers carry much of the burden of teaching at Israeli universities. Most of them are employed as “external staff,” receiving an hourly salary, and are paid only for eight months of the year. They also do not receive a pension plan, or any social or academic benefits, such as eligibility for a sabbatical.