21/09/2004 The Histadrut labor federation has called a public strike that began Tuesday morning at 8:30, to protest the failure to pay – in many cases for months – the wages of employees of the municipalities and the religious councils, as well as to protest against a cut in the 2005 budget that will lower the wages of civil servants and see hundreds laid off. Negotiating teams from the Histadrut and the Finance Ministry were set to meet Tuesday afternoon in an attempt to find a solution to the crisis in local authorities and thus bring about an end to the strike. Sources in the Histadrut said there were minor advances in the talks with the treasury. The strike will affect all government ministries, municipal authorities, government companies and transportation, including the national airline El Al. Justice Minister Yosef Lapid spoke out against the public sector strike at a Justice Ministry study conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday. „[Histadrut chairman]Amir Peretz is acting on the pretext of ‘murder and inherit,'” Lapid said, „First the Local factions of the Histadrut refuse to sign reform agreements that will allow for funds to be given to the authorities in order to pay the workers’ wages, then the Histadrut launches a countrywide strike because the funds weren’t put through.” Lapid added that the Shas ultra-orthodox party was also responsible for the state of the local authorities. „What the government is doing now is making an effort to enact reform in local government and force it to act responsibly and lawfully. When Shas ruled the Interior Ministry for 20 years, local government was corrupted.” The minister said Shas did nothing to enforce proper government and the local authority chiefs got used to spending money and counting on the state government to cover the deficit.
Lapid added, „If the government had caved, this crisis would be back in six months.” because the money would again be exhausted. Peretz said earlier Tuesday morning, „The strike will continue until a solution is found to pay the workers’ wages in the local authorities and the religious councils.” The Finance Ministry’s tax division director Eitan Rub said the government will do all it can to facilitate proper economic functioning and will consider issuing back-to-work orders to put a halt to the strike. Rishon Letzion municipal employees reported for work Tuesday morning, breaking the nationwide public sector strike. Though banks are also striking, the Histadrut on Tuesday morning authorized bank employees to refill automatic teller machines as need and to carry out foreign currency transactions. Judge Boaz Ukon, the director of Israel’s courts of law, announced that even though workers at the courts were on strike, the judges are not striking and therefor parties who were summoned to legal hearings must come as scheduled. In anticipation of the strike, El Al announced that all its flights scheduled to depart from Ben-Gurion Airport between 7 and 11 A.M. are slotted for earlier take-offs. Airplanes that were already in the air will be allowed to land at the airport, however passengers’ baggage will not be unloaded. The public is asked to follow updates via the various company offices abroad and the El Al web site, in view of the possibility that there will be further cancellations. One area not affected by the strike is schools, which will remain open as teachers’ associations are not part of the Histadrut. On the other hand, there will be some disruptions to school services because the school administrative staff will be on strike. No disruptions are expected in special-education schools, however kindergartens will be closed because assistants are striking. The Education Ministry announced that in those institutions where parents replace the assistants, the kindergartens will remain open. WIZO announced that it received permission from the Histadrut to keep open during the strike 23 day-care centers for children with special needs. In any case, 13 multipurpose day-care centers will remain open. The strike at the Interior Ministry will affect the issuing of passports and identity cards, and all other official government documents pertaining to private citizens. Similarly, employment offices will not receive the public, and no unemployment dues will be paid nor will the National Insurance Institute make payments to those authorized to receive state support. The Land Registry office will also be closed as will the customs and income tax authorities. As in previous strikes in the municipal authorities, garbage will not be collected except in the 20 or so local authorities that hire private trash collection firms. Also, no parking violations will be registered. Railways will also strike except for a number of destinations that will be kept running to facilitate the transportation of soldiers. Bus services of the Egged and Dan lines will operate uninterrupted. The sea ports will also be affected, with no loading and unloading of ships in Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat port. Partial work will continue in the various military industries, including Israel Aircraft Industries and Israel Military Industries. The Bezeq telephone company will not deal with breakdowns nor will the Israel Electric Corporation. Mail will not be delivered, and the Mekorot water company will not handle any problems in the supply of water. Government hospitals and those belonging to the Clalit Health Maintenance Organization will be closed, and only emergency operations and laboratory tests will be carried out. Clalit branches will not receive patients, but the doctors will be in attendance and will provide care for those who arrive, even though the nursing and administrative staff will be absent. For the 7,000 employees of the religious councils, the strike began Monday. In some of the cases, employees of the religious councils had not received their monthly wages for as long as 14 months. „The condition of the employees of the religious councils is more serious than that of the municipal authorities,” said Leon Morozovsky, a representative of the Histadrut. For their part, the Manufacturers Association and the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce sought the intervention of the National Labor Court on Monday, asking for an injunction to prevent the Histadrut from striking. On Tuesday, Manufacturers Association President Oded Tyrah expressed anger that overnight negotiations held in an effort to head off the impending strike were left in the hands of two junior employees, Israel Radio reported. Peretz said after anouncing the strike, „Wages must be paid on any condition. The government is treating salaries as donations. The workers have become hostages.” BPI-info
