Histadrut chief threatens further strikes if no deal reached with social workers
Social workers’ union rejects ‘meager’ raise offered by Finance Ministry as strike enters 16th day; welfare minister: Situation must be resolved before ‘disaster hits’
The leader of the Histadrut labor federation threatened that additional public sector workers could go on strike if the government doesn’t reach an agreement with striking social workers to change their working conditions.
Arnon Bar-David met Tuesday with Inbal Hermoni, head of the Israel Union of Social Workers, whose members launched an open-ended general strike earlier this month after failing to reach a deal with the Finance Ministry following repeated negotiations.
A statement from the Histadrut said Bar-David warned during the meeting that other public sector employees could go on strike in solidarity with social workers, without further elaborating.
He pledged the Histadrut would begin paying NIS 1,000 to all striking workers out of its strike fund in the coming days, the statement said. Bar-David and Hermoni also coordinated positions ahead of the latter’s expected meeting later Tuesday with Finance Minister Israel Katz.
יו"ר ההסתדרות: "אם לא ייפתר המשבר מול העו"סים – מקומות עבודה נוספים מהמגזר הציבורי יצטרפו לשביתה כסולידריות; נפעיל את קרן השביתה ונעניק לכל עו"ס ששובת צ'ק בגובה 1,000 שקל". לידיעה המלאה: https://t.co/SHxKE410RC pic.twitter.com/W8H9D1xNMv
— ההסתדרות החדשה (@histadruthadash) July 21, 2020
The meeting between Bar David and Hermoni came as the social workers’ union rejected a proposal by the Finance Ministry to end the strike — now in its 16th day — and demonstrators marched in the center of Tel Aviv.
The treasury offer would see a salary increase of a few hundred shekels per month and a one-year protection program against violence they face on the job.
“We’ve been demanding change for ten years,” Hermoni told the Ynet news site. “We are currently being offered a meager salary increase and a protection program that will expire in June 2021.”
The exact value of the salary increase offered was not reported, and neither were details of the protection program.
“Do they expect us to agree to be in the same position in another year’s time? The treasury keeps telling me that they understand, but I do not need their understanding — I need there to be functioning welfare services,” she said.
The Finance Ministry reportedly told union representatives that it was unable to make any permanent offers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Demonstrating social workers gathered in Tel Aviv’s central Rabin Square and then marched down Ibn Gvirol Street, a major thoroughfare in the city. Police said in a statement they were diverting traffic to alternate routes.
מחאת העובדים הסוציאליים: המפגינים מקיימים צעדת מחאה ברחוב אבן גבירול בתל אביב וקוראים "ישראל כ"ץ תתעורר – רווחה שווה יותר"@uriyaelk pic.twitter.com/KHS12jT3Yu
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 21, 2020
The protesters were joined by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, who called on the government to improve the working conditions of the social workers.
“The finance minister must intervene immediately in the crisis,” he said, according to the Haaretz daily. “The struggle of social workers is a unique struggle — it’s the struggle of the weak, who themselves take care of the weak.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Welfare Minister Itzik Shmuli met with representatives of the social workers, and issued a statement saying the labor dispute must be resolved.
“This problem that has been dragging on for years must be solved and we all went to great lengths to address it. In the first stage we must mediate and inject money and improve safety, and in the next stage we must give a future to the workers who do sacred work,” Gantz said in a statement.
“A society is measured by its assistance to the underprivileged and it is a profession that people should be proud to do, with an adequate salary and hope for advancement. I spoke with the finance minister on the subject and I, together with Shmuli, will continue to work until a real solution is found.”
Shmuli told the Kan public broadcaster the situation must be resolved before a disaster occurred.
“An abandoned baby, a battered woman — we must understand that there are thousands of such cases and the social cost is huge. There must be quick and vigorous action or it will cost human lives. Agreements must be reached before disaster strikes,” he said.
Social workers have long complained of what they describe as an unreasonable workload, with low salaries and the constant danger of violence.
During the open-ended labor strike there are no protection orders issued for children and youths in danger, no meetings of abortion committees, no respondents available to deal with inquiries from the elderly, no tending to domestic violence incidents, no allocation of minors to care homes, and no assessments of convicts or those under arrest.
The Finance Ministry said that Tuesday’s offer was made after Katz intervened personally.
“Finance Minister Israel Katz is full of appreciation for the dedication of the social workers and for their contribution and help to the general public during the coronavirus pandemic,” the statement read. “As part of the negotiations between the ministry and the union, and after Katz’s personal intervention, an agreement was formulated that includes the state’s commitment to fully fund the issue of protection and provide grants of thousands of shekels to all social workers until June 2021.”
The Ynet news site reported that last year the union found that 83 percent of social workers experienced violence at work. Thirty percent suffered physical violence and 30% endured threats to their lives or to the lives of their children.
Hermoni said earlier this month there were 1,000 positions open for social workers but that no one wanted those jobs because of “the workload involved, the violence and the low wages.”
On Sunday, protesters hung 300 files on the fence of the Prime Minister’s Office to illustrate the number of cases that each social worker is required to handle.
A separate strike by nurses on Monday over manpower shortages at medical centers ended after one day after a deal was reached.
The agreement between the National Nurses Union and the Finance Ministry will see the addition of 2,000 temporary nursing positions and 400 doctors’ positions in the state-run healthcare system and the hiring of additional security personnel at sensitive locations. A team will be formed to agree on permanent staffing numbers within a month.
The sides also agreed to have nurses work in a “capsule” system in which they’ll work during set shifts to prevent spreading of the coronavirus. A final decision was still to be made on salaries for nurses who are required to quarantine after being exposed to a virus carrier.
