The price of consumer goods shot up in supermarkets, cooperatives and privately owned shops all over Israel today as Government and industry leaders argued over wage hikes and businessmen in general demanded that the government come up with some firm decisions on tax and tariff policies for the coming year. The price of 153 items sold on the retail level jumped by about 20 percent. The retail traders associations, which have held the price line at the request of Histadrut, announced that they could no longer absorb the higher prices demanded by wholesalers and producers and would pass them on to their customers.
An urgent meeting was held today between the Israel Manufacturers Association and Government fiscal officers. The industrialists proposed wage increases to be paid only in Government bonds. But there was argument over whether the rise should be 5.2 or 2.6 percent of the current wage levels. The manufacturers said they would have to increase prices considerably if they were required to pay additional wages in cash. But pressure for substantial wage increases continued to mount. A committee of economic experts working on behalf of various professional employes associations, reported yesterday that professional salaries have fallen 17 percent behind the salaries of executives during the past four years in which salaries were supposedly “frozen.” The committee recommended 23-25 percent wage increases for all personnel grades on the professional scale, including doctors, engineers, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, journalists and other professionals who are not self-employed.
PRICE BREAK DUE TO GOVERNMENT INACTION
Today’s break in prices was attributed to the prolonged deliberations on wage and price increases and on the failure of the Government to agree so far on a program of tax increases and other levies for 1970. The uncertainty caused by the indecision of the higher authorities affects importers and wholesalers who had been maintaining a more or less unified stand on prices in order to keep them stable. The price rises that went into effect today stemmed mainly from individual decisions.
Mark Moshevitz, president of the Manufacturers Association, cabled Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir who is presently abroad, to see to it that no decisions on wage increases are taken in his absence. The cable was, in effect, a call to Mr. Sapir to come home and take action to end the uncertainty. But a Finance Ministry spokesman said today that Mr. Sapir would not cut short his tour. He was represented at today’s meeting with the manufacturers by Minister of Justice Yaacov Shimshon Shapiro who is Acting Finance Minister in Mr. Sapir’s absence. Also at the meeting was Minister of Agriculture Haim Gvati who heads the ministerial committee charged with examining the new national budget.
Premier Golda Meir warned Israelis yesterday that they would have to tighten their belts in order to meet the financial burdens of defense which she described as the nation’s number one priority. Addressing the Moetzet Hapoaloth (Pioneer Women) convention in Tel Aviv, Mrs. Meir said, “We have to struggle, even with our friends, to sell us the weapons we need, and even when they agree to do us that favor, we must begin to pay because no one gives us gifts.”
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.
