Apr. 30, 2003 General strike paralyzes nation By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on the Histadrut to end a general strike which has paralyzed the nation since early Wednesday morning by shutting offices, banks, schools and airports. While the Histadrut rejected the demand, contacts appeared to be underway to reach a compromise over the Treasury's plan to cut 11.4 billion ($2.3 billion) from the state budget, against which the Histadrut declared the strike. The Likud Party's Knesset faction named a committee to come up with amendments to the proposed cuts, media reports said. But the changes would be made only after the cuts are passed by the Knesset on a first vote expected to be held later Wednesday. The measure would require another two votes before going into effect, which leaves time for a compromise deal. In his speech to the Knesset, where he presented the emergency economic measures, Netanyahu said: "I'm appealing to you to stop this unnecessary strike which is causing terrible suffering to all Israeli citizens." He noted the supplies to already-troubled Israeli factories stuck at the nation's ports. According to media reports, 26 ships are stuck at the ports of Haifa and Ashdod. Netanyahu said it would rescue the economy from crippling recession. Slashing an inflated public payroll will "lift a weight off our backs," Netanyahu said. He said the US was also interested in seeing Israel reduce its budget deficit, suggesting this was part of a deal to win some $9 billion in loan guarantees from Washington. Histadrut head Amir Peretz accused Netanyahu of taking the strike personally. The Histadrut is protesting that the cut would cost thousands of public sector jobs and cut salaries and pensions. The Histadrut also objects to the plan because it involves legislating salary and pension reductions that would undermine the union's power by effectively nullifying collective agreements reached previously with the government. After weeks of slow negotiations, talks broke down after the Treasury went ahead and put the cut to a Knesset vote, expected to take place later Wednesday. The Histadrut retaliated by calling an open-ended strike, and some 600,000 public sector employees walked off their jobs beginning at 6 a.m. local time. The strike which began at 6 a.m. local time shut schools, government offices, public clinics, the electric company, railways, airports, banks and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The strike completely parlyzed business life in the country, leaving garbage uncollected and hundreds of thousands of children home from school. In addition, hundreds of Israelis were stranded overseas, including groups of high school youths who traveled to Poland to participate in a March of the Living to the site of the Auschwitz death camp in honor of Holocaust Day which was Tuesday. However, the airport workers' union of the Histadrut decided Wednesday afternoon to let planeloads of Israeli youths from Poland to land on Thursday morning, and to allow President Moshe Katsav's plane to land on Friday. Read the Special Report: A Country on Strike for more details about the general strike that began in Israel on April 30. |
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