A wage agreement reached between Histodrut and private employers Friday was approved by the Ministerial Economic Committee today for civil servants and other employes in the public sector. The pact, signed by Histodrut Secretary General Yeruham Meshel and Avraham Shavit, chairman of the Manufacturers Association, calls for a 7.5 percent wage hike, retroactive to April and an identical increase to be paid later in the year.
Government officials stressed that the wage agreement was compatible with the Treasury’s policy of protecting the real value of wages against inflation while preventing a rise in the real value which could be inflationary. The increase will be paid next month, coincidental with the latest cost-of-living, allowance which falls due in July.
This means that Israeli wage-earners will have especially fat paychecks next month. Some economists believe the new wage accords will send the economy into a sharper inflationary spiral: To counter this, the Ministerial Economic Committee is planning another round of price hikes for consumer goods.
Meanwhile, the Israel Pound hit a new low yesterday. It now stands at IL 50-51.
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