An organization of northern municipalities and concerned citizens has declared that it is preparing for a general strike in the north of the country in protest over the rescinding of tax relief enjoyed by the constituent communities for 25 years. Barring a last-minute agreement, public services in most northern cities and towns will be suspended starting on Thursday.
According to existing tax laws, residents of several areas defined as being on the "frontline" with confrontation states or in areas of contention enjoy tax benefits and certain tax relief from the government. Those communities along the northern border, where Israeli towns have come under attack over the years from terror groups in Lebanon, thus far have been granted "frontline" status for tax purposes. Other areas defined as "frontline" include Judea and Samaria, and the area adjacent to Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza.
The planned strike, announced Sunday, will also protest the government's failure to transfer to the northern municipalities 4 billion shekels in aid that was promised at the end of the Second Lebanon War last summer. Communities in the north of the country were devastated by continuous barrages of rockets from Lebanon during that conflict. The mayors of the affected cities say they are pessimistic about the meeting with Prime Minister Olmert. Promised monies were earmarked for rehabilitating the local school system, bomb shelters, damaged structures and other post-war needs.
Representatives of the Frontline Community Forum, as the organizing body is known, are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday. If the meeting fails to reverse the new tax policy and to extract a commitment to transfer the previously agreed-upon post-war aid, Forum members say, the strike will commence as announced.
The general municipal services strike is planned to include Kiryat Shemona, Akko, Nahariya, Maalot, Shlomi, Metula, Yesod Hama'ala and many other communities in the northern and western Galilee. It will encompass the industrial and educational sectors, as well.
Railway Workers Walk Out in Wildcat Strike
Train stations throughout the country were shut down by a workers’ strike Monday morning. The workers began their strike without warning but returned to their jobs by midday.
Israel Railways said it would compensate all passengers who were delayed by Monday morning’s surprise strike, managers announced Monday. Managers promised to “get to the root of the matter,” and to take “all necessary steps” to fix the problems caused by the strike.
Managers said the strike was called to protest structural changes in the workforce. Employees were also objecting to a proposed early retirement plan, they said.
Teachers' Strike Continues
In other strike news, high school teachers continued their rolling strike Monday, canceling classes for students in grades 7-12 in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Preparations for the bagrut (high school graduation) exams were to continue as usual.
The teachers are protesting the level of their salary and retirement benefits, and complain that they are making no progress in negotiations with the government. Teachers Union Head Ran Erez said, "In our fourth round of negotiations with the government, we didn't move forward even one millimeter.... [This] strengthens our feeling that the Finance Ministry and Education Ministry are just trying to drag out the process and get to the end of the year."