The general strike which brought the country to a halt and threatened to disrupt air travel at the peak of the season has ended with the Finance Ministry compromising with the Histadrut Labor Union.
The strike was called off at 5 AM Thursday after lasting for 23 hours, just ahead of the 6 AM deadline at which point Ben Gurion Airport employees were to join in walking off the job. Following all-night marathon meetings between Finance Minister Roni Bar-On and Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini, the government agreed to a 5 percent pay raise for public-sector workers – more than its initial offer of one percent, but half of the ten percent initially demanded by the Histadrut. The pay raise will be implemented incrementally, as follows: 1.5% in January 2008, another 1.5% in December 2008, and 2% in December 2009. Other minor benefits were also agreed upon.
Both Eini and Bar-On expressed satisfaction at the agreement, offering each other mutual compliments. "I praise the Finance Minister," Eini said. "This is a revolutionary day for the workers who have suffered only pay cuts over the past six years, and now will finally get a raise."
Bar-On, who assumed the post of Finance Minister only this month, said he was happy that a balance had been found "between the workers' needs and the economy's budgetary capacities, in a manner that will allow the economy to continue to grow." He praised Eini for his "patience and responsibility."
The one-day strike shut down trains, postal services, border crossings, seaports and government offices. The Histadrut made an exception for Sderot and other Gaza-area municipalities and emergency services, allowing them to continue working.
The shutdown of the airport, which would have taken place at the peak of the tourist season, was delayed for a day and now, to the relief of tens of thousands of travelers, will not take place at all.
Ahead of the deadline, airport authorities approved the early takeoff of 120 flights, departing every three minutes, with passengers told to arrive at the airport five hours early to navigate through the mobbed check-in counters.