A strike by workers of the Clalit Health Fund can continue, the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court ruled Tuesday. The strike, by support workers, has crippled the health fund and its hospital system. The strike has been going on since Sunday, and on Tuesday several hospitals said they had run out of clean sheets, because the workers who do the laundry are on strike. The workers are demanding a 25% salary increase, the same that doctors working for the fund received. On strike, besides laundry workers, are engineers, technicians, janitors, and other support staff. Doctors and nurses are working as usual.
Clalit asked the court to order workers back on the job because of the difficult situation in the hospitals, but the court ruled that workers could continue striking. However, the court ruled that the two sides would meet Wednesday to try and iron out their differences.