Histadrut has no intention of calling off a crippling general strike set for this Sunday, despite a temporary restraining order issued by a Tel Aviv district court Thursday.
The powerful labor federation plans to bring the entire economy to a virtual standstill on the first day of the work week, the head of its trade unions department, Chaim Haberfeld, declared at an emotional news conference here.
Histadrut is protesting a series of austere economic measures proposed by the government which the union says will fall most heavily on wage earners.
The restraining order was obtained by the Israel Chamber of Commerce, which contended that the strike call was politically motivated and calculated to harm business.
The decision to defy it was questioned in principle by some veteran trade unionists, who said “the founding fathers would turn over in their graves.”
But the labor federation complained that since it was not represented in court, the injunction was one-sided.
The judge ordered both sides to appear Sunday morning, but the strike is scheduled to start at 6 a.m., before the courts open.
Haberfeld said Thursday that he would try to arrange a court hearing Friday with both sides in attendance, and that he hoped to convince the judge of the legitimacy of the work stoppage.
OBJECTIONS TO ECONOMIC PROGRAM
Labor has long objected to Finance Minister Yitzhak Moda’i’s economic program, which would reduce the minimum wage, raise taxes and allegedly rob savings and pension programs.
A general strike planned for last month was called off after Haberfeld met with Moda’i and other Treasury officials, who had reportedly agreed to more balanced measures.
But the labor leaders were stunned Wednesday when the finance minister unveiled two previously secret proposals amounting to substantial tax hikes.
The value-added tax is to be increased from 16 to 18 percent next year, and a 5 percent surtax will be added to everyone’s income tax effective Jan. 1.
The surtax was called an “absorption levy” because it is intended to help pay for the absorption of the hundreds of thousands of Soviet immigrants expected to arrive in Israel next year.
“How dare they take away the rights of the poor and the elderly in the name of new immigrants and in the same breath give hundreds of millions to ultra-Orthodox institutions?” Haberfeld declared.
He was referring to the generous government stipends to religious schools run by the Orthodox parties that give Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s coalition its Knesset majority.
The economic measures were approved by a Cabinet majority after a full day of deliberations and announced only Wednesday evening.
The strike call followed almost immediately.
The walkout will affect both public and private sectors. Government and private factories will be idled, airports and seaports will be shut down, and railroads and most other public transportation will be suspended.
Schools from kindergartens to universities will be closed. There will be a radio and television blackout, and no banks will open.
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