The strike of railway workers has entered its second week and the management of the Negev phasphate and potash workers on the Dead Sea say their export losses now amount to some quarter million dollars a day.
The railway workers voted today to continue their work stoppage which has halted all rail traffic, both passenger and freight. They are demanding a pay increase of some 30 percent to make up for erosion of their incomes, for recognition as “production workers” who are entitled to extra tax benefits and payment while they have been on strike
The Dead Sea works usually move some 8,000 tons of products a day. The management has switched to road transport, but trucks can only move some 40 percent of the daily output, at three times the cost of rail transportation.
Meanwhile, some 60,000 employes of local councils have threatened to call a full strike by Thursday if their wage demands are not met. Some council employes are already on strike, complaining they have not yet received their December salaries. The councils say they have not yet received their allocations from the Treasury.
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.
