Strike (file)
Strike (file)Flash 90

The Histadrut labor federation launched a general strike as of 6:00 a.m. (Israel time) on Wednesday morning, after failing to reach an agreement with the Treasury regarding the employment conditions of contract workers.

During the strike all government services, including garbage removal, schools, banks and airports, will be shut down. Flights out of Ben Gurion Airport will be canceled from 6:00 a.m. and until noon.

Trains will not be running throughout the country during the strike, but buses will continue to run as scheduled.

Local authorities, municipalities, regional and religious councils will be on strike, as well as universities and some national school networks such as Wizo, Naamat and ORT.The special education system will operate as scheduled.

Fire and rescue services, as well as hospitals, will work in emergency mode. Utility companies will work on a Shabbat schedule.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini had held an all-night meeting in an attempt to reach an agreement but were unsuccessful, Kol Yisrael radio reported. However, according to the report, the two are expected to continue their meeting into the morning.

On Tuesday night it was reported that the Treasury made a better offer to the Histadrut regarding the wages for contract workers.

As part of the offer the Treasury announced that it will allocate another 200 million shekels to increase wages and improve social conditions for cleaning workers who are employed as contract workers.