Labor Strikes in Israel Could Expand

There are major labor strikes occurring in Israel, and they promise to expand. The garbage is piling up, school aides are on strike and hospitals, railroads, the post office and the phone service face possible strikes. Meanwhile, the poverty of the workingclass increases as the Zionist government puts guns before butter.

The World Socialist Website, in an article by David Cohen dated 10/17/02, entitled "Israel: Public sector strike and protests against austerity budget" at
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/isra-o17.shtml
provides the kind of news coverage on the Middle East that is rare and extremely necessary to understanding the crisis in that area.

Pertinent paragraphs include:
"The Histadrut trade union federation has threatened to expand its public sector strike following the failure of negotiations with the Finance Ministry on October 14. "

"The wage strike takes place against a background of mounting economic hardship for Israeli workers. The Labor and Social Affairs Ministry estimates that only 20,000 new jobs will be created during the coming year. Its latest report indicates that 419,000 families depend on some form of social assistance, made up of some 1,127,000 individuals out of a total population of just over six million. Between June 2001 and June 2002, the number of families who sought social welfare help rose 5.9 percent compared to 2.7 percent in the same period the previous year."

"On October 14, hundreds of activists from social organisations gathered in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) hall to protest the proposed 2003 state budget. Senior Knesset members from the Labor Party, the main coalition partner of Ariel Sharon’s Likud, and the liberal opposition party Meretz attended the meeting which was filled with vehement attacks on the government’s economic policies. The meeting signalled the start of the social organisations’ campaign to block approval of the 2003 budget. In weeks to come, activists in the campaign plan to lobby all 120 MKs and try to persuade them not to approve the budget."

"Up to now, activists in the campaign have held weekly protest vigils in front of the Likud Finance Minister Silvan Shalom’s home, as well as protest rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Participants at the Knesset rally represented a wide scope of opinions and organisations. Protesters came from groups that represent the Arab sector, the ultra-Orthodox, the homeless and the unemployed."

"Edna, a nurse in a public hospital, said, 'This government is not investing even one shekel in the public health. We don’t have money for medication. There is no money for new beds, and the patients are actually being tortured. How can we proceed in this way?' "