Opposition parties reacted angrily Monday to reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is considering cancelling tenure arrangements in the public sector.
Netanyahu reportedly instructed Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Harel Locker to examine the matter, after telling the cabinet on Sunday of the need for greater flexibility within the public service.
The prime minister acknowledged that he will need the support of Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini if he is to change existing workplace agreements. The labor union did not issue a comment on the issue, but Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich and Meretz MK Ilan Gilon both warned Netanyahu against making such a move.
Yacimovich accused Netanyahu of aiming to create a fast track for firing public sector workers. The PM is not only doing nothing to prevent waves of layoffs, she argued, but has also decided that the most urgent task is the immediate dismissal of “devoted workers” who earn low wages, such as teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, police and prison guards.