BREAKING NEWS

Public sector likely to strike today over mass dismissals of IBA workers

The Histadrut labor federation is likely to call for a strike in the public sector on Sunday in response to the dismissals anticipated over the next month of at least 500 employees of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn declared a labor dispute two weeks ago over the manner in which IBA employees were being treated by the Finance and Communications ministries.
Amendments to the Public Broadcasting Law are scheduled to be announced on Sunday, in preparation for the second and third (final) Knesset readings of legislation to close the IBA on March 31, 2016. Of the 1,580 IBA employees, it is anticipated that at least 500 staffers will receive dismissal notices in the first week of September, and the others will gradually be let go.
In protest, IBA employees and their families assembled in the IBA studios in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Friday night to usher in the Sabbath, and afterwards declared a sit-in.
The employees are also protesting the fact that the amendments to the law call for a 10 percent cut in the salaries budget for the IBA’s remaining half year of operation.