Photo: Guy Asiag
Photo: Guy Asiag
Foreign Ministry workers protest poor wages
Union says workers in Israel and abroad will stop issuing passports after wage agreement was ignored for 7 months, wages dropped by 4%.
Just seven months after a deal was signed to improve pay and working conditions at the Foreign Ministry, union employees said Sunday that the deal had not been properly enforced and announced that they would return to a series of sanctions against their employers that led to the signing of the deal in the first place.
Foreign Ministry employees in Israel and abroad were instructed by the union to stop sending communications, issuing passports, offering political and administrative assistance, and more.
The Foreign Ministry building in Jerusalem. (Photo: Guy Asiag)
The workers claimed that they have repeatedly warned their superiors of the situation over the last several months. According to the union, not only did the Foreign Ministry not receive the funding agreed upon to meet their wage demands, but the Finance Ministry recently told them that a previous wage agreement signed in 2011 was no longer valid, resulting in an immediate 4% decrease in salaries.
"We gave many warnings before taking action," read an announcement from the union. "We said these things over and over, in open meetings and private forums and nothing happened. Despite the goodwill shown by the new CEO and the patience shown by the workers for months, disregard for the employees continues."
