Israeli social workers go for all out strike

By Simeon Brody, community editor, on March 7, 2011 3:47 PM | No Comments

It seems Israeli social workers could show their colleagues here in the UK a thing or two about radical industrial relations.

According to Haaretz, social workers in Israel are planning an indefinite strike with the aim of winning a 35-40% pay rise and the inclusion of privately employed social workers in the collective bargaining unit. As far as I can tell, inflation in Israel is currently about 3%.

And they're not pulling their punches in terms of impact on services:

Municipal welfare offices will not give assistance to at-risk children and teens, probation officers will not submit evaluations to the courts, and centers that supervise meetings between divorced parents and their children will be closed

The union is blaming any repercussions squarely on the government for its intransigence in the negotiations.

I don't know enough about the situation over there to know about the merits of their case but they're not messing about.

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