According to this report in the daily business newspaper Globes, the Netanyahu government is proposing new legislation that will restrict workers’ right to strike in certain sectors.  Among those being targetted are port workers, the electricity company, the railways and the health care system.

The proposal surprised the Histadrut national trade union centre “especially in view of [Finance Minister Yair] Lapid’s oral promise to [Histadrut chairman Ofer] Eini on the matter when the two men reached a deal on the state budget. Histadrut sources say that Lapid is the government authority on all matters relating to labor relations (through the director of wages), and, therefore, his promise not to promote legislation limiting the right to strike is tantamount to a government promise.”  Apparently not.

Globes’ coverage of the story focusses on the growing rift between coalition partners Lapid and Netanyahu, but what should concern trade unionists everywhere is the increasingly aggressive behavior of the Netanyahu-led government toward working people and their unions.   The proposed legislation may turn out to be not only wrong, but illegal as it seems likely to breach International Labour Organization core conventions.