Protest in Tel Aviv
צילום: נועם (דבול) דביר
Labor court delays general strike in southern Israel
Ahead of planned labor action, top court says agreement reach to freeze terminations for two weeks, return to talks.
A top labor court announced Wednesday evening that the general strike in southern Israel was averted at the last minute. According to the agreement, the termination letters of workers will be suspended and negotiations will resume between the two sides.
Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn said after the deliberation that, "as the Histadrut demanded since the beginning of the crisis, the termination letters were frozen without precondition. We are going back to the negotiations table."
After a two-week period of talks, the parties will report their progress to the president of the National Labor Court. However, the strike in southern factories will continue as planned. The agreement was released after a discussion of nearly four hours.
Factory workers protesting in front of PM's Office (Photo: Gil Yohanan) (צילום: גיל יוחנן)
He said the struggle would continue until a solution for the ongoing employment crisis in the periphery was found. "I thank all the southern union councils for the commitment they have shown. We still have a long way to go; I sincerely hope we do not find ourselves in the same place in two weeks."
Southern workers protest terminations (Photo: Gil Yohanan) (צילום: גיל יוחנן)
The general strike in southern Israel was planned as part of the wide escalation in the fight against the government's neglect of periphery communities. Two weeks ago, the Histadrut announced a labor dispute in protest of the scheduled terminations of Israel Chemicals employees and the general employment crisis in the southern region.
Workers at a bromine compounds factory began striking more than a month ago, with Dead Sea factory workers joining their colleagues two weeks later – ahead of the expected firings of hundreds of employees. The workers have since led massive demonstrations in cities across central and southern Israel.
Ilana Curiel contributed to this report.
