A Labor Dispute, Only Six Months After Collective Agreement

The Hitadrut was obligated to declare a labor dispute with the Federation of Local Authorities, affecting fifty-five thousand education support workers (formerly referred to as assistants) in kindergartens and schools. The announcement comes following unilateral reductions in their salaries and a bad-faith abuse of the non-absence incentive.

All appeals from the Histadrut to the relevant local authorities and to the Federation of Local Authorities were not answered. Therefore, there was no choice but to declare a labor dispute.

If there are no agreements with the workers’ representatives, organizational measures will be taken in two weeks from today (20.2.24) in the authorities that do not protect the workers’ rights and do not keep to the collective agreement signed in August last year.

Chairman of the Histadrut’s UCAPSE, Adv. Gil Bar-Tal: “Unfortunately, local authorities are abusing the non-absence incentive and are preventing education support workers from receiving full payment of the incentive to ‘settle accounts’ with them. The purpose of the incentive was to encourage and motivate employees. We will not let management misuse the employees’ money. We are determined to protect the rights of these workers.”