In a conversation yesterday, Minister of Finance Yair Lapid and Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn agreed that the minimum wage would be raised to NIS 5,000. A Ministry of Finance source today estimated the cost of the measure at NIS 3 billion. The parties have not yet agreed on the scheduling of the wage hike and reduced employment of contract workers, but Lapid said today at the Accountant General Department conference that he hoped agreement could be reached within a day or two.
The Histadrut and the Ministry of Finance declined comment on the agreement reached. The progress in the negotiations reduces the chances that the Histadrut will carry out its threat of a general strike next Sunday, although the Histadrut said that no changes had taken place in its preparations for a strike.
If the state reaches agreement with the Histadrut, a legal question is expected to arise concerning its validity. As a rule, the Attorney General does not allow the government to make binding decisions on issues of principle in a pre-election period. Furthermore, the increase in the minimum wage will not be possible as long as the 2015 budget has not been approved, because until then, the government is bound only by the existing wage agreements.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 1, 2014
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