Economy lost 168,864 days to strikes in 2010

There were 24 full strikes in 2010, in which 35,844 employees participated.

By GUY KATSOVITCH
gas station strike 311 (photo credit: Rami Zringer)
gas station strike 311
(photo credit: Rami Zringer)
The Israeli economy lost 168,864 work days to strikes in 2010, down from 208,691 work days in 2009, the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry reported Monday.
However, the opening of new labor agreements in early 2011 has resulted in a turning point in industrial action by some unions, including the Israel Medical Association and the Israel Association of Social Workers. Their strikes were preceded in 2010 by the prosecutors and Foreign Ministry workers’ strikes.
There were 24 full strikes in 2010, in which 35,844 employees participated, up from 15 strikes in 2009, in which 50,866 employees participated.
There were also 13 partial strikes (labor sanctions) in 2010, in which 56,564 employees participated, down from 18 partial strikes in 2009, in which 27,562 employees participated.
Most of the strikes in 2010 were over pay (46 percent), the signing of a new labor agreement (17%) and layoffs (17%).
Sixty-eight percent of lost work days to strikes were caused by strikes in the public sector, while 32% were due to strikes in the private sector. More than half of the strikes lasted for only one day, while one-third lasted for up to two weeks. Thirteen percent of strikes lasted for more than two weeks, with the longest being the 49-day strike by the prosecutors.
“The industrial quiet in 2010 continued the trend of previous years, thanks to the pattern of cooperation that the unions and employers have introduced into labor relations,” Labor Relations Supervisor Shlomo Yitzhaki was quoted as saying in the report. “The trend of stability was expressed in the fairly low number of strikes, the low number of strikers and the limited number of lost work days.”