Histadrut - the largest Israeli labor union, has arranged another strike in the last week. A short one at least, due to a court order.
I still hold grunge towart Histadrut in general, and Amir Peretz personally, for all the strikes they have organized, in many cases protecting the inefficient and overpaid employees of the ports authorities, or the electric company, meanwhile making insufferable damage to Israeli economics.
This time it seemed that they fighting for a just cause this time. There are several hundreds municipal employees that do not get their salaries for the last several months. In some cases over 7 (seven!) month without a single shekel paid to them.
According to Israeli law, there is an administrative responsibility if the salary wasn't payed till the 10th oh the next month. If the salary is delayed further than this period, it becomes a criminal offense.
The government is defying it's own laws? Isn't the government's job to uphold the law, rather than breaking it and having the Histadrut protecting it?
Well, there is a deeper problem. Most of the problematic municipal authorities don't have money to pay salaries since they are broke. They are broke because they have overblown staffs. A dire reorganization is needed, to save the situation, in order to have a sensible budgets and to have the government to agree to transfer money to them. The problem is that Histadrut prevents such moves, since it will involve termination of numerous jobs in the municipal sector.
Loop closed.
Perhaps the Histadrut are as bad, as I thought they are.
3 comments:
Even broken clock shows the right time at least twice a day. Just because they are fighting for a good cause this time, doesn't mean they have suddenly seen the evil of their ways. Unions are a good idea in general. Problems start at the same place they always start: corruption. And it is as potent as ever.
That said, how are things in Bney Aish in this regard?
In some ways, the very idea of unions is corrupt.
Irina, you are right, but at a time unions were a necessity.
Yury, I don't know about Bney Aish. I leave so early and come back so late, that hardly see it or care.
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