Yad Vashem workers strike for second day over wage dispute

Employees at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum are striking and protesting in front of the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem against what they describe as the Treasury’s withdrawal from a negotiated wage agreement.

It’s the second day of the first-ever strike in the institution’s history, the union has said. The site remains open to visitors despite the strike, Yad Vashem notes.

Workers accuse the Finance Ministry and Yad Vashem management of backtracking on a pay-raise deal reached after seven years of talks. According to union representatives, the average Yad Vashem salary is 72% lower than the public-sector average, with many staff earning under NIS 9,000 ($2,720) a month.

Yad Vashem says in response that 95% of the new collective agreement has already been finalized, offering “significant wage increases” for the next five years. The institution expresses regret over the strike, calling the remaining disputes “bridgeable.”