Finance Minister Simcha Ehrlich defended his economic policies in the Knesset today against the background of a new wave of labor unrest and attacks by the opposition Labor Alignment.
Ehrlich, introducing an additional budget of IL 17 billion for the current fiscal year, claimed that his policies have proven successful. He said exports were up and the price index for the period November-January rose only 17 percent, two percent less than critics anticipated when the Pound was devalued by 48 percent last year.
According to Ehrlich, industry and agriculture are growing and if there was a decrease in investments it was not in export-oriented projects. He noted that there was a rise in the number of building starts but did not mention the sharp price increases in the apartment market.
Gad Yaacobi of the Labor Alignment, chairman of the Knesset’s Economic Committee, charged that the State’s economy was deteriorating while the national debt is rising at an unprecedented rate. He challenged Ehrlich’s statement that the government was avoiding borrowings in foreign currency. According to Yaacobi, inflation increased at a rate of 30 percent during the last three months as a result of the government’s economic policies.
THOUSANDS IN WORK ACTIONS
Ehrlich’s immediate problem is the latest rash of wildcat strikes and work stoppages and the eight-week-old strike that has paralyzed Israel’s merchant marine. About 11,000 employes of the Postal Service engineering department which includes television, telephone and telex technicians, staged a 24-hour strike yesterday without advance warning.
All broadcasting was suspended except for hourly news bulletins and the Army Radio Service. The strike ended at 5 p.m. local time today but a general strike by mail carriers and post office workers is threatened for next Monday. Psychologists employed by municipalities are also planning to strike next week and there may be a walkout this week by employes of the licensing office and meteorological stations.
There has been no progress in the eight-week seamen’s strike and EI Al maintenance workers suddenly decided they will not work on Saturdays although they always have. Ehrlich warned yesterday that the government will take firm action against small groups of workers who try to “hold the State by the throat.”
He noted that Transport Minister Meir Amit has authorized the sale of six Israeli merchant ships, on action that Ehrlich blamed on the strike. There is, however, a world-wide shipping slump, the worst since the 1973 oil embargo, and ship owners are trying to sell off excess tonnage wherever they can.
Ehrlich was attacked by Histadrut for allegedly referring to the striking seamen and the El Al maintenance crews as “parasitic elements.” The Finance Minister was accused of insulting Israel’s workers. One bright spot was a decision by district court judges to postpone a three-day strike they were to have begun tomorrow. They postponed the strike at the urging of Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir.
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