Israel Matzav

General strike coming at 6:00 am

I'm writing this about three hours before you will see it, but as of this writing, we're going to have a general strike at 6:00 am, with the airport going offline at 8:00 am.

The Histadrut announced that all local authorities would be closed, as would Ben Gurion Airport and other ports. Ships already in port will not be unloaded, and ships that are approaching Israeli ports will not be allowed to dock. Trains and buses, for the most part, will not be running, and health fund (kupat cholim) offices would run on emergency schedules only, as would state hospitals and all government offices. Banks will be closed as well, as will the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Most of Israel's colleges and universities will be closed as well. As of now, elementary and high schools will remain open, although most teachers are not expected to show up for class. Further announcements of businesses will be closed will be made during the course of Sunday, the union said. The Histadrut added that the strike was open-ended, and that workers would remain on strike until contract workers were included among the ranks of regular workers throughout the economy.

The Histadrut is like the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters and the Mafia all rolled into one, and we have strikes like this once or twice a year. Bishvil zeh yesh Histradrut (for this there's a Histadrut).

If you're wondering what they're striking over, ostensibly it's to force the government to hire all the contract workers (employed through independent agencies) that currently work indirectly for the government (who would of course then become members of the Histadrut). There's no way the government can do that without busting the budget.

Labels: general strike, Histadrut

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:43 AM