A strike of electric power station operators which blacked out half the country for several hours yesterday ended early this morning when the strikers agreed to accept a renewed offer by Histadrut to negotiate on their behalf. Although the some 400 power station shift workers are among the highest paid in the country, they are demanding a 25 percent increase.
They threatened to close down all generators at nightfall last night — an act which would have brought the country to a complete standstill — but created only a 50 percent blackout. Their decision to end the strike is understood to have followed steps by manufacturers to sue the individual strikers for the damages caused by spoiled goods and lost time.
The intensifed strike was caused when the electric corporation management summarily dismissed six members of the workers committee in Ashdod who had cut back power output by 10 percent on Monday.
Newspapers today criticized both workers and management for their handling of the dispute, pointing out that while the workers were wrong to halt a vital service, management had broken custom and unwritten law that strike committee members should not be penalized personally for their actions on behalf of their union.
Another strike which had caused disruptions to individuals and the economy — that of teachers — has ended with the civil service commission agreeing to an immediate 10 percent salary increase, with negotiations to continue on other points still in dispute.
The Egged bus cooperative, which halted its service for two hours in mid-morning Monday, today announced it would strike buses until 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. The cooperative management complains the government had failed to pay it moneys due.
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.
