צינור הגז המצרי פוצץ בפעם השישית מאז נפילת מובארק
Treasury, Histadrut agree to start negotiations over controversial elements in economic program
The general strike scheduled to start at dawn Thursday was called off Wednesday night following an agreement reached by the Histadrut labor federation and the treasury.
Over 50,000 workers at government ministries and corporations and at the local authorities, and the nurses at Israel's chain of Well Baby Clinics, will halt sanctions begun two weeks ago.
Histadrut chairman Amir Perez called off the strike after reaching an agreement with the Finance Ministry to start negotiations over controversial issues in the government's economic plan.
While negotiating, the government will suspend moves to regulate labor relations through legislation, and the Histadrut will refrain from calling strikes over those issues.
"Only after we threatened to call a general strike did the treasury understand that they cannot use force against the workers," Perez said. "The workers won because they were united, and there will be no legislation. At the end of the negotiations with the treasury's representatives, we will reach an agreement protecting the workers' rights."
An accord was signed by the Histadrut's Trade Union Chairman Shlomo Shani and head of the treasury's Wages and Labor Relations Department Yuval Rachlevsky, saying the finance minister and Histadrut chairman will meet to formulate the instructions given to the professional teams, "to rapidly promote discussions between the sides."
The agreement stipulates that as long as the two sides are negotiating, "the government will freeze all moves which affect the workers, their rights and employment security, while the Histadrut freezes all organizational moves."
The civil servants were protesting planned job cuts and structural changes in ministries, such as the recent split of the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, and the abolishment of the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Nurses at the Well Baby Clinics halted their sanctions after the treasury agreed to suspend moves affecting the clinics. The 2,200 nurses object to the government's plan to transfer the clinics to the HMOs, and are demanding more personnel.
Finance Ministry officials commended "the Histadrut's responsible position," and expressed hope that the talks will begin before Pesach eve and be concluded quickly, so that the economic plan's implementation is not delayed. "Reducing the scope of the civil service sector is inevitable," they said