Israel’s Trade Union Federation Histadrut announced on Monday its intent shut down the economy starting on Wednesday. Talks between representatives of the Histadrut and the Finance Ministry will continue, as planned, until the last-minute, but at this stage it is expected that the strike will break out. Histadrut officials said Monday that following the struggle for higher wages for public sector employees, and after the declaration of labor dispute had been approved by the union leadership, Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn declared a strike in the entire public sector starting Wednesday at 6:00 AM.
Israeli parents must now find babysitting solutions for their school age children — both the Teachers’ Union and the Teachers’ Association will participate in the strike. Parents may consider taking the kids and fleeing abroad until the end of the strike, as of Tuesday Ben Gurion Airport is not expecting to be included in the strike—even though the Airport Authority is on the strike list.
“The Histadrut will not lend a hand to the attempt to pit one group of public employees against another,” Chairman Nissenkorn said on Monday to thousands of public sector employees who demonstrated in front of the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem. “The strike is not an end but a means for about a million employees who can’t make ends meet to proclaim their concerns. The state must take care of the weak classes and of the middle class — and the sooner the better. The Histadrut knows how to regulate and distribute the salary increments in every workplace and organization to favor the weak.”
Nissenkorn warned heatedly, in 1930s workers’ leader fashion: “Together we’ll show them the meaning of the Histadrut, the power of the Histadrut, what we’re doing together for a just cause: to finish the month (Israeli wages are paid monthly). For the first time in the history of labor relations in recent decades, we are one body — the Histadrut Federation, the Teachers’ Union and the Teachers’ Association — all of us are united. All the salaried workers have joined forces.”
Here is a fairly extensive list of the workplaces expected to strike Wednesday:
Chief Commissioner of Wages Ministry of Finance (how apropos)
The Chief of Labour Relations at the Ministry of Economy
Civil Service Commissioner
The Knesset
Teachers Union
Teachers’ Association
Jerusalem municipality
Tel Aviv Municipality
Haifa Municipality
Center for Regional Councils
Organization of Religious Councils
Firefighting and Rescue Commission
Municipal Sewer and Environment Quality Association
Planning and building water commissions of local municipalities
Municipal companies
Prime Minister’s Office (including the National Security Council)
Ministry of Interior
Population, Immigration and Border Crossings Authority
Ministry of Economy (including the Antitrust Authority)
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Transport and Road Safety
Ministry of Finance (including the Accountant General, the Government Printing Office)
Ministry of Immigrant Absorption
Department of Homeland Security
Ministry of Education (including the Rural Education Administration)
Ministry of Communication
Ministry of Housing
Ministry of Culture and Sport
Ministry of Science, Technology and Space
Ministry of Energy and Water Resources
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Ministry for Regional Development
Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Relations
Ministry for social equality
Ministry of Development in the Periphery, Negev and Galilee
Ministry of Diaspora
Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Justice (including the enforcement and collection authority, court administration, land registry and the rabbinical courts)
Ministry of Senior Citizens
Ministry of Intelligence Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage
Ministry of Welfare and Social Services
Ministry of Defense (including units of the Ministry of Defense)
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Religious Services (including the Chief Rabbinate)
Israel Tax Authority (including income tax and real estate taxes, customs duties and VAT and VAT)