As travelers waited with baited breath to find out whether the general strike that began Wednesday would be expanded to include Ben-Gurion Airport, Histadrut Labor Federation Ofer Eini and Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On were set for a "white night" of talks, hoping to break the deadlock.
An earlier report that the airport might not close, after all, went unconfirmed. Meanwhile, it geared up to allow takeoffs every three minutes.
A total of 120 flights carrying 20,000 passengers were expected to slip out of the country before 6 a.m. Thursday, when the general strike was scheduled to affect Ben-Gurion, Channel 10 reported.
El Al Israel Airlines has advised passengers flying out Wednesday night to be at the airport five hours before their flights were scheduled to depart.
An earlier meeting between Eini and Treasury Wage Director Eli Cohen ended without results. Before he sat down with Bar-On, Eini reportedly said he was prepared to hold talks throughout the night in order to reach a compromise.
A woman stands at the entrance to the Interior Ministry in Jerusalem closed to the public in a previous strike of civil service workers.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
Meanwhile, the National Labor Court (NLC) ordered the government, the Hisdadrut and the Israel Airport Authority to submit a detailed report on the scope of the strike and list the damages sustained by laborers and the economy by 6:30 p.m.
Earlier Wednesday, the country's economy came to a near halt after the rejected on Wednesday morning petitions filed against a general strike in the public sector declared the previous night by Eini.
However, the Histadrut instructed the Sderot municipality and emergency services to continue working, and emergency services in the Gaza periphery settlements are also open to the public.
While most government offices and the postal service are closed, the Defense Ministry is still working, registered mail is being delivered and apart from Kupat Holim Clalit, which operates only emergency health care, other health service organizations are working as usual.
Hundreds of Sderot citizens inquiring which services were working in their city and which were closed due to the strike, could contact the Histadrut directly by fax, Israel Radio reported. The fax number is 03-6921408.
The NLC spent the majority of Tuesday night reviewing petitions filed by the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, the Employers' Association and the Israel Hotel Association. A decision was reached only moments before the strike took effect at 6 am.
The strike is expected to cost the economy up to NIS 1 billion a day.
In a gesture he said was intended to leave the door open for negotiations over the next 24 hours, however, Eini said a work action at Ben-Gurion Airport would be postponed until Thursday morning.
"On Tuesday, we let the Finance Ministry know that we were ready for an agreement in order to come to a compromise over public sector wage increases without a strike, but we did not receive any phone call from Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On and, therefore, we have no other choice but to declare a general strike in the public sector, which will start at 6 am on Wednesday," Eini said at Tuesday night's press conference in Tel Aviv.
"The strike at Ben-Gurion Airport will be postponed to Thursday morning, to give travelers an additional 24 hours and to send a message to the government that we have another 24 hours to enter into serious negotiations," he said.
The Ashdod, Haifa and Eilat ports, Israel Railways, postal services, local authorities and all government offices apart from the Defense Ministry will be on strike, including the Israel Lands Administration, National Insurance Institute, Israel National Employment Services, Interior Ministry and the courts.
Government hospitals including Hadassah in Jerusalem and Ichilov in Tel Aviv will be open with disruptions, while Magen David Adom will operate an emergency service in addition to the electric company and firefighting services, while the Dan and Egged bus cooperatives and banks will operate as usual. Universities, museums and higher education institutions will all be closed.
"The business sector cannot bear even a single hour of a strike," said Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel.
Eini said that in recent months the Histadrut had been trying again and again to hold intensive talks with the Finance Minister to resolve the public sector wage dispute, without any serious results.
"The finance minister agreed to raise monthly wages by NIS 30 on average, so each worker can buy two portions of falafel. This is not a serious offer," said Eini.
