The Bank of Israel workers committee has called off its strike after a court hearing.
Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer and Ministry of Finance Director of Wages Eli Cohen reached a wage agreement for the central bank at 3 am today, after marathon talks. Under the agreement, current and former Bank of Israel employees will return excess salary, benefits and pension payments.
The aggregate return will total NIS 100 million. Bank of Israel employees who retired in 2003 will also have to return money, including five employees who retired at 45-49 (rather than at 50 as stipulated in the labor bylaws), and received pensions for up to five years longer than legal. Both veteran and new Bank of Israel employees will see their salaries cut.
The new wage agreement is better than the one obtained three months ago by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, his economic advisor, Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, and chief of staff Oved Yehezkel. The pay cut for new Bank of Israel employees will be smaller than in the previous agreement, but still requires the approval of the Bank of Israel workers committee.
Bank of Israel workers committee chairperson Rimona Leibowitz complained that the negotiations were being conducted without the bank’s employees. “I heard that they’ve reached this agreement without us. We have no information about this agreement, and we’re continuing the strike for now. We’ll see what’s in the agreement, review it, and then decide.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 15, 2007
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