Treasury, unions hold last-minute talks in bid to avert general strike

Histadrut chief, finance minister meet over public-sector salaries as 6 a.m. shutdown of schools, airports, municipalities looms

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (R) seen with  of Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn during a press conference regarding a deal on government contract workers at the Ministry of Finance in Jerusalem on July 20, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (R) seen with of Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn during a press conference regarding a deal on government contract workers at the Ministry of Finance in Jerusalem on July 20, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Histadrut Labor Federation chief Avi Nissenkorn were meeting late Tuesday in a last-minute effort to avoid the looming public sector workers’ strike scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The high-level talks at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem led to the postponement until midnight of several appeals to the Jerusalem Labor Court against the strike, which is expected to shutter or seriously hamper operations in the nation’s schools, municipalities and airports, among other institutions, the Ynet news site reported.

“I hope we don’t get to a strike. It’s completely unnecessary,” Kahlon said Tuesday, calling on Nissenkorn to “stop threatening. We’ll sit with them as long as it takes. You don’t have to punish the whole nation, the parents, the children, those who are flying abroad tomorrow, or those waiting three months for an MRI. They’re not at fault.”

The Histadrut is demanding an 11-percent salary increase for public sector workers over five years, backdated to begin retroactively from 2013, while the Finance Ministry is seeking to keep the increase at a lower 3-7% in the interim.

In recent days, the national unions of elementary and high school teachers announced they would join the strike, Ynet reported.

The Industrialists’ Union, which is one of several public and private agencies appealing against the strike, told the labor court Tuesday that it would cause billions of shekels in damage to the Israeli economy.

Schools will shut down nationwide, with the exception of special education frameworks, as well as municipal services such as garbage collection.

The strike will dramatically affect air travel, the Histadrut warns, effectively shutting down Israel’s airspace as traffic controllers and other critical workers join the labor action. El Al announced it was moving up the departure times of some 20 flights to ensure they take off before the 6 a.m. start of the strike in an effort to minimize the harm to travelers.

Government ministries, the postal service, airports, Israel Railways and the Egged bus company will all be shuttered by the strike.

Firefighters and the Magen David Adom rescue service, as well as publicly owned hospitals and the Clalit health fund, will scale back their operations to Sabbath levels.

The strike will not affect emergency rooms, trauma centers, maternity wards, oncology departments and other urgent medical services within the striking hospitals.

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