"Economic growth is a threat to all of us," stated Arnon ben-David, Chairman of the Histadrut.
Tel Aviv, November 3 - The Jewish State's remarkable resilience of late in fostering private-sector growth has the leaders of some of the country's largest trade and worker associations worrying that too many people might enjoy the fruits of that prosperity unless their groups step in to announce a work stoppage unless and until they extract better pay and conditions from public funds.
COVID-19 and global inflation woes have had a smaller effect on Israel's economy than on other countries, even those with much larger economies, according to economists. Whether that indicates astute stewardship of Israel's economic affairs by the outgoing government and its predecessor during the pandemic - elections occurred Tuesday, with unclear results until a coalition forms - or occurred irrespective of official measures, the chiefs of two teacher organizations, the largest union of public-sector employees, and several other labor groups warned that the limited damage from a teacher strike at the end of the last academic year failed to dent Israel's economic growth in any appreciable way, and they must act to initiate a new labor stoppage before the country prospers too much.
"Economic growth is a threat to all of us," stated Arnon ben-David, Chairman of the Histadrut, Israel's largest public-sector labor union. "People who have enough money to meet their basic needs are less willing to empathize with the plight of the poor government employee who can't be fired for incompetence. It's harder to make noise about worker exploitation and fair wages - even though the chief beneficiaries of the government concessions we extract with our extortion are already our organization's top earners, while the lower-earning, newer members whose plights we highlight get the scraps."
"Obviously right after an election isn't an effective time to do anything," acknowledged Israel Teacher Association Deputy Director Elka Pone. "No one in government is in position to accede to our demands until a new government forms, if that even happens. But if it does, we can launch right into a strike to prevent Israelis from enjoying any normalcy for more than a few months at a time." If no faction leaders can cobble together a ruling coalition over the next several weeks, new elections are automatically triggered, delaying the next effective strike even further and running elevated risk of the government or labor unions handicapped in their authority and capacity to hamper normal life for their compatriots and squander public resources to enrich a group of special-interest workers.