Shlomo Bohbot
Photo: Gal Hermoni
Local authorities split over strike
Union of Local Authorities in Israel calls two-day warning strike next week in protest of government budget cut. But major Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion announce will only partially strike, angering union members
A number of cities in the forum of 15 major Israeli cities announced Friday morning that they would not fully participate in a warning strike called by the Union of Local Authorities to take place next week, saying they will not strike schools.
ULA Chairman Shlomo Bohbot told Ynet, "In Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion, classes will be held as usual. We look upon this with great consternation."
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Petah Tikva, Raanana, Ramat Hasharon, Hadera and Hod Hasharon also announced that school would open as usual on Sunday, but that there would be no reception hours for the public.
Thursday night, Arab local authorities announced that they were also joining the strike, and there will be no school in Arab communities next week.
The Tel Aviv Municipality wished to stress that the city is indeed taking part in the strike: "The public will not be received between the hours 8am and 12pm," spokesman Hillel Fartuk said.
"Each authority decides for itself how to identify with and support the strike. The Tel Aviv Municipality has decided that its identification will come in the form of canceling reception hours. We are taking part in the strike in the way we see fit. I am not sure all the bodies took part in the decision to strike and the time. Tel Aviv and Forum 15 could have said no, but this time we have decided to join, each authority in its own way."
Solidarity needed
Bohbot accused the major cities of harming the smaller authorities. "When these cities wanted us for municipal tax and water laws, we fought, and today, the fact that these cities don't want to strike takes them out of the local authority. They are hurting the small cities – and the big cities don't actually need the strike."He continued to say that a general assembly of the Union of Local Authorities is slated to take place next week, and any authority that does not follow the union's orders will not take part in the meeting.
"There are a lot of mayors that have called me. If the large (cities) don't demonstrate solidarity with the small cities, we will demand the government distribute the wealth from the center to the periphery, in favor of the smaller authorities," he said.
Bohbot admitted that even in the cities where there will be a full strike, schools cannot be shut down completely. "Legally, we cannot strike schools, but the schools' secretaries, security guards, and custodians will not show up," he explained. "The schools' principals will take responsibility of the children."
The decision to strike came following a NIS 3 billion ($790 million) budget cut the ULA says the government took out of the local authorities' budget.
Bohbot told Ynet, "This is a warning strike of two days, then, afterwards, if nothing happens, right after Sukkot, all local authorities will go on strike without a time limit."
If the threats are realized, the heads of 130 cities and local authorities are expected to demonstrate outside the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
Garbage trucks, buses and commercial vehicles belonging to the local authorities will drive to Jerusalem at a low speed and are expected to cause serious traffic jams on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway 1.
The ULA said the authorities can be contacted at the 106 hotline for more information on the strike.
Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to this report
