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Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairperson Avi Nissenkorn today announced a general strike on Wednesday, November 7. “This will be a tough strike, but it is a small price to pay for saving lives, and we won’t compromise over this matter,” he declared. “There will be no exceptions to the strike. Government offices, the Knesset, the local authorities, firefighters, and the water corporations will all go on strike.” Speaking at the “We Work to Live, Not to Die” conference held by the Histadrut in Tel Aviv, Nissenkorn cited a list of strike participants that included the Magen David Adom ambulance service, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. , IMI Systems Ltd., and Ashot Ashkelon Industries.
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Hundreds of work committee members and leaders of large unions and other organizations are taking part in the conference. 37 workers have been killed in construction site accidents in Israel this year.
“Everyone of you is a partner in social achievement, a common path, and solidarity,” Nissenkorn said in his speech. “Imagine a person who goes out in the morning, takes a sandwich, goes to work, and doesn’t return, because he’s dead or seriously injured. This is unnecessary, and it can happen to anyone. The government doesn’t care, and that’s horrible. I’ve been calling on the government to solve this problem for two months, and everyone says someone else is responsible. What are they in the government for? To serve the public, or not to serve the public?
“There is no vacuum. Workers in the construction industry are being killed, bus drivers are being attacked, and nurses are being attacked, because people aren’t respected here. I met with government representatives yesterday, and we argued about job slots for inspectors. It’s a matter of NIS 20 million, and the ministries are arguing about who will pay it. Meanwhile, people are falling and dying.”
Three weeks ago, Histadrut institutions approved a general labor dispute at Nissenkorn’s request. The announcement of the dispute was preceded by Nissenkorn’s appeals to government ministries and employers to reach a consensual collective arrangement for regulating safety in workplaces, with an emphasis on stopping fatalities in the construction sector. Since the legal cooling off period has expired and decision-makers and employers have proposed no practical steps to redress the situation, the Histadrut is preparing for a full shutdown of the economy.
The Histadrut published in recent days a list of demands for safety regulations in construction, including making the European standard for scaffolding binding, enforcing the obligation to wear safety harnesses, regulating the use of cranes on construction sites, and adding a binding safety appendix to state construction and infrastructure tenders.
One of the speakers at the conference was Kat Karkolov, a crane operator who became a symbol of the struggle when she was fired for refusing to work a crane during a windstorm. “I’m tried of us being treated as if we don’t matter. I paid a heavy price. We’ve embarked on a long struggle for our safety, and I’m glad that we’re succeeding in part of our struggle. I appeal to all workers not to take your lives for granted. Fight. We do matter, and we aren’t alone anymore. We’re together, we’re powerful, and we can’t be ignored anymore.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 1, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018
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