החברות שלא מעניינות את טרכטנברג

Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Histadrut labor federation Chairman Amir Perez will meet today in an effort to end the public-sector labor sanctions that began last week.

The unions are protesting several elements of the treasury's new economic program.

But a cloud was thrown over the meeting Thursday morning, with the report that Netanyahu had ordered the director general of the treasury not to pay the salaries of striking government workers.

The head of the trade unions' division of the Histadrut, Shlomo Shani, told Army Radio, which carried the report, that he was "surprised" by the move and that the labor federation would "respond accordingly."

The sanctions will continue Thursday. However, the heads of two unions announced Wednesday that they oppose cranking the sanctions back up to a full-scale strike, such as the one that shut down the country last week. "Holding another strike would be like directing 'friendly fire' against the workers in whose names we are fighting to change the sections of the economic plan that deal with wages and dismissals," said Yitzhak Raz, head of the engineers and technicians' union. "All the anger would be turned against us."

Asher Goldberger, head of the paramedics' union, added that the Histadrut wants to avoid lawsuits for damages caused by the strike, which would probably be filed if the strike were resumed.

But both Raz and Goldberger stressed that there are still significant gaps between the Histadrut and the treasury. For instance, the Finance Ministry wants to cut public-sector wages by an average of 11 to 14% for the next three years, while the Histadrut objects to any cut, and is at most willing to freeze wages for 12 to 18 months.

In contrast, both men believe it will be possible to reach an agreement on dismissals. The treasury, they predicted, will ultimately drop its demand for cuts in the public-sector work force, "since they understand that substantial layoffs mean allocating financial resources to unemployment payments," and the Histadrut is willing to accept a hiring freeze. Another outstanding dispute involves the treasury's plans for pension reform.