The strike was called to protest employment terms and the Finance Ministry decision to cut workers' pay.
For the first time in Israeli history, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs workers committee has declared a full strike. Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman has launched a counterattack, calling the strike, "A miserable decision by the workers committee, which has lost its senses. It is useless and merely causes greater harm to Foreign Ministry employees."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs workers committee ordered all ministry employees, including at embassies worldwide, to go on strike. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies are on strike indefinitely to protest the employment terms of Israeli diplomats and the draconian decision by the Ministry of Finance to cut workers' pay. From today, the Foreign Ministry will be closed and no one will be allowed entry, including the political leadership and ministry managers. The Foreign Ministry headquarters and 103 Israeli embassies worldwide are sealed, from representatives in New Zealand in the east, through Paris and London and on to Washington and San Francisco, and the Permanent Mission to the UN."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 23, 2014
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