Strike set for Tues. unless Peretz-Netanyahu talks yield deal

The planned strike would include trains and airports, local garbage collection, but not buses.

Histadrut representatives involved in the talks said that they were willing to postpone the strike if the Finance Ministry would publish a document of shared principles, upon which a final agreement between the sides would be based. But the treasury refused the offer.

A four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and Peretz earlier in the day failed to yield significant progress in the negotiations. Netanyahu and Peretz also met through the night Sunday, but the talks were inconclusive.

Senior treasury officials said Monday afternoon that "the gaps between the two sides … are bridgeable."

Prior to the Monday afternoon Peretz-Netanyahu meeting, dozens of Jerusalem sanitation workers, infant-care nurses, firefighters and Egged bus company employees demonstrating outside the Finance Ministry blocked traffic with garbage and fire trucks.

Labor sanctions were continuing Monday, with workers in most government offices refusing to offer services to the public.

Histadrut situation room chairman Jahed Akel said the labor union will likely decide during Monday night’s Tel Aviv meeting whether or not government-affiliated companies will join the strike.

If the strike is intensified, the postal service, the port and train authority, public corporations such as the Jewish Agency, university administrations and Histadrut pension fund offices will also close. Local authorities will cease collecting garbage and kindergarten assistants, court stenographers and secretaries will not show up for work

Early Sunday, Peretz accused Netanyahu of intentionally dragging his feet in the negotiations with the unions to make sure the Knesset vote on the economic plan – scheduled for two weeks from now – takes place before the crisis is resolved.

At stake in the talks are wage cuts, firings, changes in the management of Histadrut-run pension funds for state workers, and deep cuts in welfare to broad sectors of the poor.

Peretz is demanding that all the outstanding disputes between the two sides be resolved by Monday evening.

Workers in government offices struck Sunday, despite a weekend of marathon talks intended to forestall the labor action. The workers returned to a full strike after having previously scaled back to work sanctions. The National Insurance Institute, Interior Ministry and income tax authority are among the institutions closing completely, and local authorities are not open to the public. Schools are operating as normal.

The Interior Ministry set up an emergency hotline (02-629-4777) for the duration of the strike for people who urgently need such documents as a passport.

Shlomo Shani, head of the trade unions department in the Histadrut, warned Friday that huge gaps still existed between the sides. He said it appeared that the public sector salaries would undergo a cut of 3 to 4 percent, despite an initial treasury demand of a 6 to 8 percent reduction in wages.

Workers at Ben-Gurion International Airport joined the striking public sector workers Sunday afternoon when they began a go-slow, resulting in the delay of outgoing flights by up to 30 minutes. Workers held up the loading and off-loading of baggage from incoming and departing flights. The workers resumed normal work later in the day.

Manufacturers’ Association chief Oded Tyrah said Sunday that his organization, and others representing commercial organizations, had decided to go to a district court to get it to order customs workers to lift their sanctions, which are preventing imports and exports. Tyrah claimed every hour of strike added another 170 people to the unemployment rolls. He said some NIS 650 million in goods are stuck in customs warehouses at the sea and air ports.