Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn is threatening to announce the date of a general strike on Wednesday, if the demands are not met.
Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn is demanding an 11% pay hike for workers in the public sector in the coming years, which would increase the state budget by NIS 11 billion. It is believed that the demand was raised in talks between the Histradrut and the Ministry of Finance ahead of the expected declaration on Wednesday of a general strike in the public sector. The 11% figure is probably only an opening demand in the negotiations between the two parties.
The Histradrut yesterday announced that it would convene on Wednesday to approve a starting date for a general public sector strike, after it said that negotiations with the Ministry of Finance for a pay rise in the public sector had reached a deadlock, and it appeared that the parties would be unable to reach agreement. According to the Histadrut, the public sector has been functioning without a framework agreement for three years already, which has led to erosion in the wages of one million public sector workers.
The Histradrut stated, "One million salaried workers in the public sector need and deserve a pay rise; some of them cannot make ends meet. Nissenkorn said yesterday, "One quarter of the salaried workers in Israel earn up to the minimum wage, and over half of the salaries workers do not reach the tax threshold. There have been too many empty slogans and too much indifference; the workers cannot make ends meet. Wages should be raised immediately - that is the order of the day."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015
Avi Nissenkorn photo: Tamar Matzapi