Large businesses threaten strike if NIS 6 billion in promised aid isn’t paid out

Key players in the business sector on Monday threatened to call a strike if the government does not make good on its promise to provide billions in aid to help businesses survive the coronavirus lockdown that all but brought the economy to a stand still.

The government has promised NIS 6 billion ($1.7 billion) in aid to hundreds of large businesses to help them return to the workforce employees who had been put on unpaid leave or laid off during the lockdown. However, the funding has not been released, amid a reported spat over how the cash should be handed out.

On Tuesday, key representatives of the business sector will meet in Tel Aviv for what organizers called an “emergency” meeting about the situation. Among those expected to participate are the Israel Chamber of Independent Organizations and Businesses, known as LAHAV, representatives of restaurant groups, event halls, chain stores, and sanitation companies, among others.

In a statement to the media, organizers accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Finance Ministry of abandoning the business sector after having promised that they would help out.

“The oxygen is all used up, the treasury is fooling the whole country, and Netanyahu has disappeared in the middle of the crisis,” the statement said. “Netanyahu forgot to keep what he promised. He promised NIS 6 billion and we have not received an agurah [cent]. If the money isn’t handed over, the economy will immediately go on strike.”

Globes reported that the aid package has been held up due to a dispute between the Finance Ministry and a powerful association of retailers over how the money should be allocated.

The Association of Fashion and Commerce Chains, which represents some 200 of the country’s largest chains, which together employ over 50,000 people, is demanding that companies receive NIS 7,000 ($2,000) for each employee they rehire.

However, the Finance Ministry is concerned that proposal will create an incentive for businesses to put employees on unpaid leave if similar circumstances return, such as during a second wave of infections.

The chains had previously demanded NIS 10,000 ($2,850) for each employee returning from unpaid leave and a compensation grant equal to 10 percent of their business cycle in March-April last year.

In a protest at the end of April, the association’s member stores remained closed for a day after the government eased lockdown restrictions and permitted them to reopen. The action prompted the government to announced the NIS 6 billion package. The funding was in addition to a general NIS 80 billion stimulus package to restart the economy, as the government lifts restrictions.

During the lockdown, which saw most Israelis ordered to stay at home and only venture out for essential needs, unemployment spiked from around 4% at the beginning of March to 24% by the first week of April with over 1,000,000 Israelis unemployed.

The government has been rolling back many of the restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak, as new infection rates have dropped. As of Monday there were 16,506 confirmed cases of the virus in Israel and 258 had died of the disease it causes.