Israel braces for general strike, as labor union, treasury negotiations falter

Israel braces for general strike, as labor union, treasury negotiations falter

 Israel's Histadrut labor federation and treasury officials on Sunday were expected to resume negotiations aimed at averting a general strike that would effectively paralyze the country.

Histadrut chief Ofer Eini has threatened to declare a nationwide strike, to go into effect on 6 a.m. Monday, over the ongoing exploitation of so-called contract workers, the most underprivileged among Israel's laborers. Eini is demanding that the government significantly reduce their number and bolster their wages and social benefits.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the Histadrut to backtrack on its plans. "I believe that a solution can be found and that there's no reason to disrupt the lives of Israeli citizens and hit the economy ... my government and the Histadrut see eye to eye regarding the worker's well-being and their wage," Netanyahu said at the opening of his cabinet's weekly session.

Citing the turmoil currently sweeping European markets, Netanyahu said a strike would endanger the Israeli economy's continued growth, which was attained through "a responsible fiscal policy and hard work."

On Friday, Eini and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz met in Tel Aviv to discuss their differences. Negotiations, which resumed Saturday evening, ultimately failed to yield results.

In a further bid to pressure Steinitz to agree to its terms, the labor union plans to announce later Sunday a list of organizations and services that would be joining the strike, if one is ordered. They are expected to include Ben-Gurion International Airport, sea ports, government ministries, municipal services, courts, universities and state-run day care centers, among others. Public hospitals, which only recently were struck by a mass resignation of disgruntled medical interns, will operate on holiday and weekend footing.

Some 400,000 Israelis in both the public and private sectors are employed via labor contractors, many of whom pay minimum wage and disregard state labor laws that dictate mandatory social benefits. The hardest-hit are mostly security guards and cleaners, but university graduates -- include teachers, nurses, bank clerks, psychologists and engineers, are also among the disenfranchised.

Eini, whose predecessors have shut Israel down on more than one occasion in the past, has demanded that 12,000 workers, employed in government bodies through exterior agencies, receive formal recognition as civil servants, with a salary and terms to match.

Treasury chief Steinitz, while offering to improve the wages of the contract workers and bolster enforcement of their rights, has called Eini's demands "outrageous," warning that accepting them would constitute an "economic disaster."

The Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations, which represents private employers, estimated that the proposed strike would cost the national economy some 330 million shekels (90 million U.S. dollars) a day. On Friday, it turned to the National Labor Court, asking for the issuing of an injunction against the strike.

Editor: Deng Shasha

English.news.cn   2011-11-06 22:00:09 FeedbackPrintRSS
JERUSALEM, Nov. 6 (Xinhua)