Histadrut: The strike will continue in full until the strike headquarters is convened.
The National Labor Court has ordered an end to the general strike. After a prolonged late-night hearing, the court issued an interim injunction banning the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) from continuing the strike. National Labor Court president Steve Adler and Judges Nili Arad and Amiram Rabinovich ordered the Histadrut to call off the strike by 8 am today. The court also ordered the state to pay the salaries of local authorities' employees within a week, and no later than Sukkot eve on Wednesday. The court stated, "The right employees to be paid in full for their work is a basic statutory right that nothing can supersede."
The decision was made at a hearing on a petition by The Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce, Manufacturers Association, Israel Ports Authority, Israel Airports Authority, and the Association of Banks in Israel for an injunction forbidding the Histadrut from calling a general strike. These economic organizations and government agencies claimed that the right to strike was not unlimited, and when permitted, strike action should be restricted to a strike against the employer only, and not against other employers who are not parties to the dispute. In this case, the employers are the local authorities.
The Histadrut said in response that the strike would continue in full until its strike headquarters was convened. It is unclear when that will happen. "Every legal decision must be studied and every legal ruling can be appealed," said Histadrut sources.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 22, 2004