A nationwide strike began in Israel at dawn yesterday, shutting down government services, banks, the international airport and trains but was slated to be held for only four hours following a labor court ruling.
The court decision headed off what was supposed to be one of the widest strikes in the nation's history, announced by the main labor union as retaliation for Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to enact sweeping reforms.
The strike began at 6am yesterday and was slated to end four hours later. The court ordered negotiations between the union and government and would hear the sides in another session Thursday evening.
"The strike has begun today," Haim Tzveik, who oversees organization at the labor union, the Histadrut, told Israel Radio. "We are holding the strike as we planned. ... We are honoring the court decision."
Airlines moved up times of flights at Ben Gurion International Airport in an effort to avoid the shutdown, forcing the constant taking off and landing of airplanes overnight, Israel Radio reported. By the time the strike began, the airport was completely empty but was slated to resume activity with the end of the strike, the radio said.
The unrest reflected a government assault on Israel's venerable welfare state, which for decades has shielded workers from the uncertainties of a free market economy, while keeping public sector employment high.
The labor crisis hit Israel in the midst of a long recession, brought on partly by a world economic slowdown and made worse by three years of Palestinian-Israeli violence, which has cut sharply into tourism and discouraged foreign investment. Unemployment is nearly 11 percent, a near record in Israel, and growth predictions hover near zero.
Netanyahu, a disciple of the free-market policies of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is leading the effort to privatize state-owned industries, reform the pension system and drastically reduce welfare payments, while reducing the power of the main labor union, the Histadrut.
Netanyahu and his advisers say the changes are necessary to permit Israel to compete successfully in the global marketplace and attract investment.
The Histadrut counters that the strike is necessary for workers to defend their rights.
"This is the most important struggle ever in Israel," Histadrut chief Amir Peretz told Israel TV on Sunday. "I am willing to do everything to prevent the strike, but I am absolutely not willing to surrender the rights of the pensioners, the rights of the workers and of course not all the laying off of thousands of workers."
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