Histadrut makes fresh bid for strike over contract workers

The Histadrut labor federation launched a fresh bid Sunday to hold a general strike over the employment status of contract workers, telling the National Labor Court that negotiations between it and the Treasury have reached a dead end.After receiving the Histadrut’s submission, National Labor Court President Nili Arad called a closed-door meeting for Sunday evening with representatives of the Histadrut, Treasury, Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations and Union of Local Authorities.“We have arrived at the moment of decision,” Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini said in a statement sent to the press. “We said two weeks ago that only under threat of strike would negotiations progress… Without the threat of a strike, the Finance Ministry and employers can drag these negotiations out for a long time.”The National Labor Court first ordered the sides to conduct negotiations over the status of contract workers after allowing the Histadrut to hold a four-hour strike on November 7. The Histadrut threatened the strike after the October release of the Trajtenberg Report on socioeconomic change – which it said legitimized continued public sector contracting.