Some leaks appeared today in the Labor-Management-Government “package deal” that is supposed to curb wage, price and tax increases for the coming fiscal year. The Government is expected to publish new sales tax rates and other fees tomorrow. Professional employes meanwhile are demanding wage hikes far in excess of the eight percent agreed to in the three-party deal. The additional taxes were expected. The Government agreed to keep taxes from soaring in return for a Management pledge to keep prices down and an agreement by Histadrut, the labor federation, to an across-the-board wage raise of four percent in cash cost-of-living allowances and tour percent in Government defense bonds. But the Government insisted that it needs another $35 million in revenue.
A ministerial committee met today to decide where the “bite” will be. Most economic experts believe it will fall on automobile owners in the form of new taxes on maintenance costs and higher license fees. Also expected are heavier sales taxes on imported cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and such luxury imports as salmon and caviar. Salaried professionals are scheduled to meet this week with Yerucham Meshel, deputy secretary general of Histadrut to discuss their demand for a 20 percent wage increase. The group has already served notice on Histadrut that it does not consider itself bound by the wage package deal. It cited a research study undertaken on behalf of professional employees which showed that their salaries lagged by an average of 17 percent behind the income of self-employed professionals during a four year period in which wages were ostensibly frozen.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
