Histadrut threatens general strike over disability pensions
After months of struggle, Israel's national trade union center Histadrut establishes a negotiating team with several organizations for the disabled in order to fight for the raising of their pensions; Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn: 'if no agreement is reached, we will declare a general labor dispute.'
Avi Nissenkorn, chairman of Israel's national trade union center Histadrut announced at a meeting with heads of the disabled organizations that if the negotiations with the government about raising disability pensions will not advance until the end of the High Holy Days, he will announce a labor dispute that could lead to a general strike.
At the meeting—which was attended by senior members of the Histadrut and representatives of different organizations, associations and advocacy groups for the disabled—a negotiating team was established for the first time on behalf of the groups, which will work in tandem with the Histadrut chairman.
"I think that every Israeli citizen who asks himself whether a sum of 2,400 shekels allows for a dignified existence, will know that the answer is nothe answer is no," Nissenkorn said at the meeting. "You do not need a Supreme Court to figure this out, just basic common sense."
"This is a just and right struggle, not only for people with disabilities but for all of Israeli society," he added, explaining that the negotiating team's objective will be to work with the government to find a viable solution to the problem, and threatening that "if there is no choice, we will declare a general labor dispute."
Nissenkorn reiterated the point of the advocacy groups, saying that the pensions should be raised to match the minimum wage so as to not allow the disabled to lag behind the economy again—naming it the first principle of the negotiating team.
"The second principle is to encourage people to work, which the current system disincentives against, and this issue needs to be corrected," he noted.
"In the end, they (the negotiating team) will have to make difficult decisions that may not entirely do right by the disabled," he sadly concluded. "The saying: 'Disabled, not half a person' is moral truth, but there are also constraints. They should ultimately see what the budget framework is and be realistic about it."
Eyal Cohen, the leader of the group "Disabled Panthers," which did not take part in the meeting, said Wednesday that "as long as an agreement is not signed to raise the disability pension to the minimum wage level, the Panthers will continue to block roads throughout the country, including in industrial areas, in a struggle that will exacerbate each passing day.
"Without a signed agreement with the Disabled Panthers, we will shatter any agreement that will be signed with any party."
