A general strike is approaching during Corona crisis: dead end in negotiations

A general strike in the midst of the corona crisis is approaching. On Sunday, talks between the heads of the Histadrut and the department in charge of salaries at the Ministry of Finance came to a dead end, regarding wage cuts planned by the Ministry of Finance for the public sector. The contacts have reached a dead end and the current situation is that Finance Minister Israel Katz intends to bring the austerity plan to the government's approval on September 13 - and on the same day the Histadrut plans to shut down the economy altogether. Following the explosion of talks, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David convened all the heads of the trade unions to declare a labor dispute in the economy, which would allow it to be shut down 14 days later.
During the day, meetings were held between the chairman of the Histadrut and the treasurer in charge of wages, Kobi Bar-Natan, and the negotiating teams, but the parties did not reach any agreements and even hardened their positions. "No solutions have been found to the disputed issues," the Histadrut said.
The Histadrut also said that "throughout the years and during the historical crises that befell the economy, the Histadrut and the public sector have given a shoulder to stabilize the economy. This is how they have acted so far in the current crisis. "The latter and its intentions to harm public sector workers are demands without any economic logic and are nothing more than populism in its name."
The Histadrut also said that the finance minister's remarks against the public sector have no equal in the Western world and that the minister is an attempt to incite public criticism of him, by attacking public sector workers.
The Histadrut wanted to emphasize that in all OECD countries, except Poland, the public sector was not harmed and no horizontal cuts were made that would harm both workers and the service provided to citizens. Moreover, in some countries such as the United Kingdom it has even been decided to raise the wages of public sector workers out of an understanding of its importance and much contribution during this period in particular.
The chairman of the Histadrut, Bar-David, said in the afternoon that "it is impossible to massively harm the 700,000 workers who run the economy and work day and night for him and for the entire public. It is not possible that under the auspices of the corona an attempt will be made to harm the salaries of public sector workers at the same time as funds are being distributed to various sectors, to those who need assistance and those who do not. I am not afraid of a struggle - my job is to preserve each and every one of the workers in the State of Israel and to promote our economy, and that is how I expect the Minister of Finance to behave as well. "
Finance Minister Katz said in response that "in the moment of truth, it turns out that the chairman of the Histadrut succumbed to the pressure of the high wage earners and high pensions in the public sector, who are required to contribute their share in the fight in Corona for the unemployed, self-employed and business owners." The chairman of the Histadrut agreed to harm mainly the low-wage earners, which is contrary to my position.
"I intend to continue to work to reach agreements with the chairman of the Histadrut that will make it possible to verify the contribution of the public sector to the struggle in Corona. If no agreements are reached, I will bring the decision-makers' proposal on the subject for government approval and legislation in the Knesset. "
At the heart of the finance ministry's plan, first published in Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet, is a pay cut for 700,000 public sector workers from October to the end of 2022. Social workers, teachers and all other state workers - unless they earn up to NIS 7,000 a month. The salary of those earning up to NIS 15,000 gross per month will be reduced by 3%, and of those earning NIS 20,000-15,000 will be cut by 7%. Those earning NIS 20,000 or more will receive a 10% cut. There will also be a cut, according to these rates, in pensions starting from a salary of NIS 15,000 and the management fee will be increased from 2% to 5%.