Histadrut

This employee was the first of some 15 expected to be forced into early retirement this year at the Dimona station as part of an agreement between Histadrut and Israel Rail. The employees stopped work as soon as they heard of their comrade's dismissal.

The strike declared Tuesday night closed most government offices and the postal service while workers related to defense and emergency healthcare remained on the job, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Government negotiations with the Histadrut labor federation were to continue Wednesday in hope of ending the strike by day's end, The Post reported.

During the meeting, Olmert promised to intervene personally in order to expedite the payment of withheld wages to municipal worker employees and to "personally follow the progression."

The strike was meant to protest a delay in the payment of wages to between 7,000 and 8,000 employees of 40 local authorities and 16 religious councils.

Civil service workers will walk out if their salaries are not paid by the end of this week, said Ofer Eini, the head of the Histadrut National Labor Federation.

The strike halted after one day following a back to work order by the National Labor Court. The court order also instructed the relevant councils to pay monies owing by the end of the week but this hasn't occurred.

"I really hope that the government won't force us to renew a general public strike. The coming week will reveal whether or not the government has the ability to put an end, once and for all, to the disgraceful non-payment of salaries," said Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini.

The Manufacturers Association and the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC) appealed to the National Labor Court Wednesday morning to order an end to the general strike in the public sector called by the Histadrut and to invite all relevant parties to an urgent discussion on the matter. The Association estimated that the strike would cost the economy NIS 500m.

A general strike has broken out in the Israeli public sector with airports, ports, government offices, and post offices all being shut down.

Workers were on strike at 25 branches of the First International Bank of Israel at the begining of November over changes since a merger with Bank Otsar Hahayal. They walked out again on the 21st after workers were suspended following accusations that they leaked details of investigations into the newly appointed bank supervisor to the media, this aggravated the ongoing wage dispute.