Histadrut started protest measures and called upon the government to fight prices surge

In the Histadrut, they started protest measures throughout the country and at the same time called on the next government to act unequivocally on the cost of living. Liat Ron and Aryeh Malinyak spoke with the chairman of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar David, who shared why they acted this way, and how they will act in the future in order to affect the pockets of all of us.
"We started a chain of demonstrations, today in Haifa, tomorrow it will be in Ashdod and then all over the country," Bar David explained. "I think the time has come for the citizens of the State of Israel and the workers together, to take to the streets and protest against the cost of living. We need to understand that many, many families do not make ends meet, that the cost of living here has exceeded all limits and that no one has put this issue on the agenda."
"We are seeing the government being formed before our eyes and no one is talking about this issue, everyone is busy with cases and I am no longer sitting quietly. I raised this six months ago against the importing companies and today I am currently raising the issue of the cost of living so that someone in the end Talk, let's unite our forces to fight the cost of living, we're all fine one hour earlier," said the chairman of the Histadrut, "the government can have an effect," argued Bar David. "The public, it's very difficult to get it out into the streets, everyone howls and everyone cries, everyone sits in the parliament on Fridays And they all cry, but when they are taken out into the streets, they are very, very difficult. That's why I took on a difficult task here. In order not to provoke it, so that the voice of the truly weak people in the State of Israel will be heard here, which also hurts them because whoever does not finish the month and then does not finish the month again, then he enters the cycle of poverty. There are also elderly people and pensioners here who we understand that every month that goes by, that the prices go up and their allowances do not go up, they enter even more into the cycle of lack of money and the cycle of poverty and someone has to pick up this gauntlet."
To the question of why he does not point the arrows of criticism at the business sector but at the government, Bar-David replied, "A few months ago I came out against these business companies, against importers. There are processes of price increases, if they raise by two percent or by one percent - that can still be tolerated , but if a product is raised here by 20%, then of course we will go against the company. And you know, the protest we did six months ago helped." I think it's time to act. I visit workplaces, I visit almost everywhere in the State of Israel all the time. I hear the people saying, 'Arnon, don't give up on them, don't stop, although there are elections and all kinds of matters, don't give up, keep being here for us,' and I will continue to be here for all the weak," Bar David said. "The intention of these protests is different from Yokar's title Animating? Maybe to the incoming finance minister?", asked the chairman of the Histadrut. To this he replied: "I don't need to show Smotrich that I am the owner of the house, it's not against him, I'm not currently in power, it's a protest and the public in the State of Israel is allowed to protest and it's not against a person's body at all. Not against any minister but against one government or another that doesn't Doing nothing and doing nothing for the cost of her life. The previous government, this government, I don't hear anyone raising a hand. So here, I put things on the table, we want to start talking and start taking care, there are things that can be done and I expect them to start being done." There is going to be a minister of finance, Bezalel Smotrich, who in principle opposes workers' committees and protests. of the workers that did not go up. Including the year of the freeze of 2022 in which we saved the Israeli economy, we got it out of the corona within a year and eliminated the entire deficit. There are currently in the state coffers about 40-50 billion shekels that the government is keeping in the coffers as a result of the royalties that the Histadrut brought to the state coffers, and I expect That these funds go where they need to and not where they don't need to." What kind of reality were we in - we were in Corona, we were in a country without a budget, we were in four or five election campaigns, we were the lighthouse, we were the only body in Israel, the only state body that held the economy and gave this country validity, including the public sector in Corona. Now I expect that we will be able to give the workers A salary agreement, a new framework agreement, it's true but it's for A. Related to this, when I have to take to the streets for a framework agreement, there will already be a strike, this will no longer be a protest about the cost of living. Let's leave it aside, one will come and we'll talk." "How did we get to a situation where a courier in Volt earns three times more than production workers?" asked the presenters of the radio program. Bar David replied that "it's sad, because of demand and supply we also have a shortage of workers. This is an amazing phenomenon that we are trying to deal with in the only way I know. To deal with something like this is to give better conditions, to give better wages, this is mainly in the business sector but also in the public sector. We lack a lot of people, a lot of professions and we have to deal with this and the state also understands this. If we want to provide a better service to the public, we need to make more advanced agreements so that people in general will come and want to be and work in the public sector." Regarding the Lahavim factory that is going to be closed, Bar David said that "there is a demand for their products all over the world, we can do other things from this office as well. There are several buyer groups that have contacted us at the moment, this is in the American board and they had to make the decision after we took it and did everything they could so that they decide to sell. Until they make the decision one way or the other, I wait patiently." In the periphery, they will remain on their feet. I visited the factories, they are truly magnificent