Today the Histadrut (the General Confederation of Labor in Israel) and the Ministry of Finance signed a framework agreement for public sector payments until the end of 2027. This is a particularly large agreement, the principles of which were agreed upon several months ago. The agreement includes a one-off grant of NIS 6,000 in March’s salary in preparation for Passover, an amount of NIS 400 in July, which will be paid in August, and an additional amount of NIS 100 in October 2024 — which will be calculated as a 5% salary increase. And then every December, public sector employees will receive a 2% salary increase, to reach 11% by the end of 2027.
The head of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, said, “The shekel sums give more workers in the lower levels. We are also shortening the working week from 42 hours to 41 hours in October, and to 40 hours in September 2024. This leads Israel to enter the family of countries in “Western countries. In Europe they work much less hours. One of the great achievements of this agreement is that we were able to create a balance between home and work. The Israeli worker works hard. We spent many years on this change.”
One of the highlights of the agreement is a “Problem Solving Fund” of a 3% salary increase. Its purpose is to resolve problems and disagreements during the agreement period without the need to strike. In addition, says Bar-David, it is intended “for sectors that need a boost: administrative and economic workers in hospitals, social workers, psychologists, courts, the list goes on. This model started during Covid, and has proven itself. Real-time solutions during the term of the agreement “. “The agreement is very professional, to a very large extent, and I got agreement from all economic organizations,” said Effie Malkin, head of the Public Sector Payroll Sector at the Ministry of Finance. “I hope the things that Anon talked about in the ‘fund’ will change.
The Histadrut pledged not to strike because of the introduction of new technologies, and Bar-David said, “We are entering with the workers a period that will allow the economy to advance, the public sector to develop, technologies to improve and services to the citizenry to improve.”
This was particularly evident in the recent passport marathon, in which Bar-David said, “I asked civil servants to go through this process and show passports to every citizen of the State of Israel.” The work here was done in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and in cooperation between workers and management. It is possible to produce things, and this is how I want to see the public sector: digital, advanced, without lines and without bureaucracy. we will do our best.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 17, 2023.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.