Nieuwsartikel 2001

Treasury, Histadrut talks end without agreement

Haim Bior, Ha'aretz Labor correspondent and Agencies

Finance Minister Avraham Shochat and Histadrut Chair MK Amir Peretz (One Nation) will lead negotiating teams that will meet again Sunday evening at 20:30 P.M. in an attempt to avert a general strike throughout the country.

In accordance with a decision by the Histadrut Labor Federation, the stike will widen Monday to include day workers in care centers and in kupat holim clinics (health maintenance organizations). Administrative personnel in hospitals will join the strike Tuesday.

An earlier meeting between Finance Ministry and Histadrut labor union negotiating teams ended Sunday without an agreement as efforts continued to find a way to avert a general strike.

Finance Minister Shochat said Sunday that the differences separating the positions of the goverment and the Histadrut labor union were smaller, and that efforts were being made to prevent the strike from developing to its fullest extent. In the negotiations, the Finance Ministry presented a proposal for a one time single-digit percentage salary increase, as opposed to the Histadrut's demand for a double-digit increase.

Histadrut leader, Peretz, said that the Finance Ministry's offer is a salary increase over 3 years at an annual rate of 0.25 percent, and is unacceptable to the labor union. According to Peretz, the Histadrut presented proposals that were more creative than those of the Finance Ministry, but he refused to elaborate on their content. In the meantime, negotiations between Shochat and Peretz continue.

The state will appeal to the National Labor Court on Sunday an earlier decision by the District Labor Court in Jerusalem denying a request to issue an order that would forbid some public sector workers from carrying out sanctions in the workplace. The Histadrut is threatening to intensify the sanctions to include a general strike.

Histadrut intensifies strike as no agreement reached over wage rise

With no agreement having been reached Sunday morning over the wage dispute between the Histadrut Labor Federation and the Finance Ministry, the union began intensifying its strike action, with Ben Gurion International Airport closed to outbound traffic indefinitely.

"Starting at 11 A.M. (0900 GMT) there will not be any flights going out," said Giora Tsur, spokesman for the Histadrut labor federation, adding that the airport will be closed to outgoing flights "indefinitely." Flights are still being allowed to land in Israel, Tsur said. In addition, train service has been stopped, garbage pickup has been halted countrywide and no ships are allowed to leave or enter Israel's ports with the exception of agricultural exports.

The Histadrut ordered strikes at municipal offices throughout the country, as they continue at the administrative offices of universities, at the Jewish Agency, and the Jewish National Fund. Stoppages will also continue at various government ministries, at the Rabbinate, the Airports Authority and Israel Railroads.

There has been no collection of garbage in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa since the start of the strike and it is estimated that as many as 7,600 tons of trash are rotting in the streets.

Public sector workers are seeking raises of 16 percent, which they say will match those received by Knesset members and public officials last year. Finance Minister Avraham Shochat has said the government will only agree to moderate wage rises.

Travelers stranded in and outside Israel

As a result of the increased sanctions by the Histadrut Labor Federation, flights in-and-out of Israel have all but stopped with hundreds of passengers stranded at Ben Gurion International Airport after the Histadrut issued work bans on outgoing flights causing many airliners to cancel flights to Israel for fear their aircraft could be stranded.

Stranded passengers at Ben Gurion airport passed the time by sleeping on their luggage carts or reading newspapers. "It's quite funny in a way but it's still stupid," said Isaac Marks of London, trying to get back to England.

El Al Airlines said it has not cancelled flights and some have been able to take off, while a spokeswoman for British Airways said an afternoon flight to London also departed on time.

Incoming flights are being allowed to land but many airlines have chosen to cancel flights since it could prove costly if planes are stranded in Israel and are unable to take off again.

The Israel Airports Authority reported that Austrian Airlines, SwissAir, Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Royal Dutch Airlines and Sabena, as well as a number of charters, have cancelled flights to Israel.

In all, more than 1,000 passengers were said to be stranded abroad. Israel's national basketball team, which played Bulgaria on Saturday night, was stranded in Sofia by the strike. But even planes that do land face trouble since the strike also extends to baggage handlers.