The general strike by civil workers spread today as some 60,000 more public employes joined the 80,000 who walked off the job yesterday. Additional groups of workers are expected to go on strike tomorrow.
The strike was called by Histadrut which has put the Finance Ministry on notice that it will continue until government workers receive pay increases to compensate for the erosion of their real incomes by triple digit inflation. Histadrut also demands higher cost-of-living allowances.
The labor federation called out all municipal workers over the weekend. They were joined yesterday by employes of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization. The strike extended today to engineers employed by the post office department, resulting in a cessation of radio and television broadcasts, except for brief hourly news bulletins.
School teachers are expected to strike tomorrow. Those not affected by the strike, and their pupils, have threatened to boycott classes because of the pile-up of dirt and debris after school janitors walked off the job.
Filthy conditions exist in the streets. Sanitation workers have been striking since the beginning of the week and garbage packed in plastic bags has been spilling over the sidewalks.
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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.
