Sources believe that the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) will call a labor dispute next Monday or Tuesday, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Yair Lapid do not agree to enter into negotiations over planned cuts in public sector salaries and other measures affecting employees in general. By law, the Histadrut can declare a strike after a 14-day cooling-off period from the declaration of a labor dispute.
In a letter to Netanyahu and Lapid, Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini said, "Unless negotiations are held immediately and a collective agreement for the public sector is signed, we will take every measure available to us to defend the workers' rights and prevent harm to the workers and pensioners."
A source close to the Histadrut told "Globes" today, "If Lapid insists on going to war, which means a war against organized labor, he can expect a much bigger war than the Israeli economy has ever seen between employers and employees. We'll be ready for it."
As "Globes" has previously noted, Eini points out that the last public sector collective agreement expired in January, and that the government is therefore required to negotiate a new agreement with the Histadrut. Eini has hardened his positions, saying that not only should the government not cut public sector salaries, it should raise them under the new labor contract. He added that the agreement to improve the conditions of contract workers in the public sector has not been implemented, in an attempt to embarrass Lapid, who talks about "the working man".
Eini will reportedly agree to a postponement of the final installment of the public sector pay hike of 1%, which will cost the treasury NIS 1 billion, on the condition that it is ultimately made up. He might also agree to a compromise in the form of a reduction of the annual vacation bonus. However, any taxation of advanced training funds is a red line, which he called the "Bordeaux line", which he will not cross. He says that these funds are employees' only medium-term savings instruments, and that taxing them will kill them.
Since Lapid took up office, he has met Eini only once, two week ago. Ministry of Finance and Histadrut officials met last Thursday.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 24, 2013
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