IBA unions unite to protect jobs

The unions are demanding that the prime minister immediately appoint an executive board in accordance with the Broadcasting Authority Law.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
All nine unions representing employees of the Israel Broadcasting Authority have united in a bid to save jobs, to protect the interests of the public who pay a compulsory levy to the IBA and to safeguard public broadcasting.
In a letter sent to the state comptroller, the IBA chairman, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, the director-general of the IBA, the chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, the chairman of the Histadrut’s Association of Professions, and the chairman of the Jerusalem Journalists Association, the union representatives have pledged to continue broadcasting as usual, but not to allow anyone who is not a tenured employee of the IBA to do any work within the IBA, and have also stated that any work carried out will be in accordance with existing agreements between the IBA and its employees.
The letter was written in response to a series of measures being introduced by management on Sunday. These measures, which inter alia will make it difficult for employees to account for time spent working outside the building, and will therefore reduce their salaries, are counter to existing agreements, and are being implemented prior to the signing of reform agreements.
The unions are also demanding that the prime minister immediately appoint an executive board in accordance with the Broadcasting Authority Law. A similar demand was made recently by Ometz, the watchdog group that seeks to prevent corruption in government.
The IBA has been without an executive board for just over a year.