Sources inform ''Globes'' that Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini has suspended his threat of a general strike over the issue of contract workers, after serious talks began with top government and business sector officials. The two-week cooling off period following the declaration of a labor dispute on the issue ends tomorrow night, which means that the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) could have called a strike on Wednesday. No strike is now likely either this week or next.
On Friday, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz promised Eini that the Ministry of Finance would begin staff work on the issue to "review distortions" in public sector employment. Eini subsequently met with Economic Organizations Liaison Committee chairman Shraga Brosh.
Business leaders, except for Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce president Uriel Lynn expressed a willingness to directly hire contract employees who are "service providers", such as cleaners and maintenance staff, provided that strict guidelines were established. Security guards would not be included in any deal, as businesses do not want to responsibility for the keeping and provision of their weapons or training them.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 24, 2011
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