The more than 400,000 civil servants who went on strike yesterday were in a festive mood today, the second day of the 48-hour general strike, as they enjoyed an unusual free day in the middle of the week. Shops and department stores were crowded with shoppers and massive traffic jams developed as the strikers took their families on sightseeing trips and shopping expeditions.
The work stoppage today, as yesterday, brought the public work sector to a virtual halt and very few of the civil servants broke rank with the strikers. Some of those on strike nevertheless expressed doubts about its drastic nature. But all agreed that the government had dragged its feet for too long a time on the issue of salary increases.
Meanwhile, the Histadrut’s government employes strike committee met today to discuss what next steps to take if the government refuses to reopen negotiations immediately on new labor contracts to include salary increases to make up for the erosion of incomes due to triple digit inflation, now at 140 percent. Late this evening Histadrut announced that the strike would end at midnight, as originally planned, but would begin again after Chanukah if no agreement was reached by then.
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.
