Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has given final approval for passing legislation agreed on by state and Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) representatives raising the minimum wage to NIS 5,000 in three installments during the election campaign.
On December 25, the Attorney General gave his opinion to the prime minister stating that there was no reason why talks should not be held to reach a binding agreement between the state and the Histadrut on raising the minimum wage to NIS 5,000 in three installments, because the state's representatives had agreed on this formula before the election campaign. He also said that the pace and duration of the installments would be settled in the framework agreement.
This opinion emphasized that the framework agreement could not set the minimum wage at 52% of the average salary after the three installments were completed in 2017, among other things due to the fact that no agreement had been reached in this matter before the election campaign.
Following the Attorney General's opinion, a meeting was held with the participation of the Ministry of Finance director general, the budget director, the director of wages, and the Histadrut chairman. Verbal agreements were reached at the meeting that complied with the Attorney General's opinion.
The questions settled at the meeting included raising the minimum wage to NIS 5,000 and the duration of the installments. It was decided to adopt the instructions on this matter included in the collective agreement signed by the Histadrut and the economic organizations liaison committee. The minimum wage will be raised to NIS 4,650 on April 1, 2015, NIS 4,825 on July 1, 2016, and NIS 5,000 on January 1, 2017.
As a result of the agreement to carry out the first installment on April 1, 2015, and because the agreements were consistent with the Attorney General's opinion, as communicated to the prime minister, Weinstein today approved this schedule for raising the minimum wage during the election campaign.
According to this schedule, the agreements reached at the meeting by the state and the Histadrut will be formalized in a document of principles between the parties and given force by a cabinet decision. The document of principles states that the agreements, as they are, will be anchored in government legislation that will be promoted during the election campaign.
Histadrut chairman Avi Nissenkorn said in response, "I welcome the Attorney General's announcement to the government. The road has been paved for legislation raising the minimum wage. The salaries of 700,000 workers will rise to NIS 5,000 in three installments, starting on April 1, 2015, which is extremely important social news in our struggle to narrow gaps in Israeli society."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 6, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015