Rain has been falling in northern and central Israel since last night but there is nobody to measure the rise in the Kinneret or the underground aquifers. The reason is that Water Authority workers are striking over what they call, "red tape in negotiations on the terms of their employment."
The employees, backed by the Histadrut, (Israel General Federation of Labor), will also not receive the public, answer telephones, issue water allocations licenses to farmers or handle appeals about the drought tax.
The Histadrut declared a work dispute 10 months ago following the government's decision to implement reforms in the water corporations. The Histadrut claims that the reform was formulated without the consent of the employees and includes measures that involve unilateral structural changes.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 7, 2009
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