Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn told the Sderot Conference on Social Affairs this morning at Sapir College that he would call a strike from Sunday December 7 if the issues regarding the minimum wage, disabled workers and contract workers are not solved. Nissenkorn said that there is only one address for a solution to these problems and that is the Ministry of Finance. Regarding the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) and Israel ports said that he could reach an agreement regarding their reforms within a month.
Nissenkorn said, "The Minister of Finance and Prime Minister need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what kind of country they want. A welfare state or a country in which people earn with dignity, and then after you give a genuine answer come and tell me how we solve the problem. How do publicly representatives allow themselves to see poverty and the phenomenon of contract workers and workers with disabilities, and remain silent? Nobody says that education, welfare and health should not be equal either out loud or silently. I'm determined to bring about change."
He added, "We have become the leading country in social gaps and the gap between rich and poor is a national tragedy. The government does not care and refuses to worry about poor people. Even if we raise the minimum wage to NIS 5,300 per month it will still be difficult to get out of the cycle of poverty but it will create opportunities for hundreds of families. 15,000 teachers are contract workers. Is that any way to improve education? In hospitals employees, doctors and nurses are starting to be contract employees, it's a disgrace that we are struggling over health tourism."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 26, 2014
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