Histadrut Prepares for Strike Citing Wages, Pensions & Nursing Care

The Histadrut Labor Federation formally declared a labor dispute Wednesday, November 25, entitling it to call a strike in two weeks time, after it said that talks on a public sector wage agreement have reached a dead end.

The executive and coordinating committee of the Histadrut convened on Wednesday morning for an urgent meeting; attending were chairman Avi Nissenkorn, Israel Teachers’ Union chairman Yossi Wasserman, and Israel Teachers’ Organization chairman Ran Erez. The committee voted unanimously to declare a labor dispute. The dispute and possible strike encompasses hundreds of thousands of workers including all staff working for government ministries, civilian employees of the Israel Defense Forces, teachers, nurses, social workers and employees of local authorities, among others.

Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn

Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn (Photo: Histadrut)

The Treasury and the Histadrut began talks several months ago, even though they knew that no agreement would be signed until after the Knesset approved the 2016-17 budget, which it did last week. In the meantime, however, the sides have failed to even reach understandings in principle. The negotiations began two and a half years after the previous contract for public sector workers expired. Civil servants have been working without a signed agreement since then.

“The wages of employees in Israel are too low and this includes workers in the civil sector,” Nissenkorn said. “I demand that Treasury officials stop dragging their feet in the negotiation to raise the salary of public sector workers, a raise which they deserve. Nissenkorn also criticized a planned reform in national insurance payments for nursing care. Under the reform, he said, thousands of employees who are paying health insurance through their workplace will see benefits cut drastically. “As it stands now, the reform will bring an end to collective insurance. Senior citizens and retired employees deserve to live in peace and deserve the knowledge that they need not worry in case they one day need nursing care,” he said. The Histadrut is fighting implementation of the reform, which was decided upon a year ago.

Nissenkorn also slammed a planned change in the field of pension funds. According to the Histadrut, proposed reforms by the government would adversely affect some 2 million employees, by adjusting the method of calculating interest. For some employees, the new method would reduce their pension payments by nearly half.

“The change planned by the state undermines the basic purpose of a pension fund – to maintain an employee’s quality of life after they retire. The ever-decreasing pension rates are one of the worst ills of the market as it is, and this should be dealt with jointly and wisely and not through draconian unilateral steps as the Treasury plans to do. We will not allow the workers’ and retirees’ social safety net be hurt so badly,” he said.