The slowdown strike of Israel’s postal workers ended early this morning following negotiations which resumed after a general meeting of the workers had earlier rejected a proposal for arbitration without prior acceptance of a series of conditions, some of which were finally accepted.
Last night, Israel’s Parliament rejected opposition motions of non-confidence in the government’s handling of the slowdown by the postal workers and by government tax revenue officials. The slowdown actions had been underway for nearly a month, crippling Israel’s mail and cable services and tax revenue collections.
Just before this morning’s decision to end the slowdown, the Israel army began a special postal service for troops. Letters to military personnel were to be sent through the military mail service and thus bypass civilian mail facilities which are virtually useless.
During the slowdown strike airmail letters from the United States have been received by recipients 15 or more days behind schedule. Express letters were delayed almost as long as regular mail. Printed material is not being processed at all.
Premier Levi Eshkol, replying last night to the non-confidence motions, defied charges that the government had neglected the needs of the workers. He listed a number of steps that had been taken, including creation of a Horowitz wages committee and an Institute for determining national output to prevent inflationary effects from wage increases beyond the capacity of Israel’s economy. He said the problem must be tackled comprehensively on the objective basis of job evaluations.
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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.
