Strike threat averted; workers to get raise

Following long negotiations into the night, Treasury and Histadrut labor federation sign agreement granting public service employees 6.25% salary raise and one-time NIS 2,000 bonus

Tani Goldstein |Published: 11.02.10 , 07:11

The threat of a nationwide strike was averted Monday night after the Treasury and the Histadrut labor federation were able to finalize a deal.

Under the agreement, drafted by Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini and the Finance Ministry director-general, public service workers will get a 6.25% salary raise, which will be paid gradually on three different dates by the end of June 2012.

In addition, all public service employees will get a one-time NIS 2,000 (about $552) grant each, regardless of their salaries. The grant will be included in the November 2010 paychecks.

The Treasury also agreed to give working women in the public sector, who have children under the age of five, a monthly grant of NIS 300 for their first child under this age and NIS 200 for a second child.

The Histadrut, on its part, vowed not to threaten any strikes until the end of the biennial budget in December 2012.

Intensive negotiations

"We proved in this agreement that a dialogue and mutual trust are the best way to lead the Israeli economy," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said during a join press conference with Histadrut Chairman Eini in Jerusalem, after signing the deal.

"This agreement benefits the Israeli economy and public service workers. It includes proper compensation for the inflationary erosion. We could have signed this deal after a month-long strike, but imagine the damage which would have been caused to the public and economy."

Steinitz noted that "the agreement includes a particularly important clause of a wage increment for working mothers. The motherhood of women with small children is the stage when salary gaps are created between men and women. The increment will encourage women to go out to work and help reduce the gaps."

Eini added, "This is one of the only times in which a wage agreement was reached without even one day of strike. We reached a good agreement for the workers."

The teams convened on Monday at 4 pm in an attempt to reach a compromise which would avert the general strike. The intensive negotiations continued until 4:30 am.