Foreign Ministry Workers Threaten Strike

Foreign Ministry workers, who have undertaken work actions in protest over salary issues on and off for over a decade, are again threatening a strike. After meeting with Finance Ministry officials on Wednesday, Chanan Goder, the chairman of the workers’ committee, resigned his position, saying that he saw no chance of signing a new agreement with the Ministry.

The last time workers went on strike was two years ago, when they shut down embassies and other facilities in countries around the world, and boycotted visits by Israeli officials to foreign countries. Several diplomatic snafus were just narrowly avoided because of the strike.

Workers agreed to halt their work actions pending negotiations, but so far, they claim, little progress has been made. According to the workers, they have seen a 50-percent reduction in their earning power since 2002, the last time their salaries were adjusted upwards.