The port workers returned to work this morning, less than 24 hours after the Knesset passed the first reading of a bill to privatize Israel's three main ports. The workers stopped work over ten days ago in protest of the intention to privatize them and open the ports to competition.
The strike ended after the National Labor Court ordered both the State and the workers to stop their unilateral actions and try to find a compromise within four weeks. Progress on the privatization legislation will thus be frozen for that period.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Histadrut Labor Union chief Amir Peretz met last night for eight hours, with the mediation of Shimon Peres, and reportedly reached agreement on "90%" of the issues in dispute.
Good news in the public sector as well. The government workers agreed to stop their slowdowns and get back to work as of yesterday afternoon, as a "good will gesture to the public in honor of the Sukkot holiday." Finance Ministry officials were suspicious of their motives, however, saying that this was merely the workers' way of ensuring that they would be paid for the Sukkot holiday, when they are on vacation. In general, workers who strike on the eve of a holiday lose pay for the holiday vacation as well.
The strike ended after the National Labor Court ordered both the State and the workers to stop their unilateral actions and try to find a compromise within four weeks. Progress on the privatization legislation will thus be frozen for that period.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Histadrut Labor Union chief Amir Peretz met last night for eight hours, with the mediation of Shimon Peres, and reportedly reached agreement on "90%" of the issues in dispute.
Good news in the public sector as well. The government workers agreed to stop their slowdowns and get back to work as of yesterday afternoon, as a "good will gesture to the public in honor of the Sukkot holiday." Finance Ministry officials were suspicious of their motives, however, saying that this was merely the workers' way of ensuring that they would be paid for the Sukkot holiday, when they are on vacation. In general, workers who strike on the eve of a holiday lose pay for the holiday vacation as well.