Arab local councils strike, demand withheld wages

Employees of the local councils in the Arab sector will renew their general strike Monday morning in protest of budget cuts imposed by the government. Launching the strike last week, council heads charged that the Finance and Interior Ministries were ignoring their economic crisis. Many employees in the Arab sector have not been paid wages in months. Striking workers planned to demonstrate in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem Monday afternoon, and have threatened to hold a hunger strike if the government failed to negotiate a solution, Army Radio reported.