A strike by thousands of administrative and other support staff from 30 medical centers across the country ended on Thursday and all of the employees agreed to go back to work.
In a deal brokered between Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and the Histadrut Labor Union, it was agreed that until the state budget is formulated all employees that were hired during the COVID-19 pandemic would remain in their jobs.
Some 200 support staff who were hired to help the hospitals during the crisis were meant to lose their jobs at the end of the month.
In addition, it was agreed that the chairman of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, would discuss a wage increase for these workers with the Finance Ministry.
“I agreed with the Histadrut chairman and with the representatives of the administrative and managerial workers to end this strike,” Horowitz tweeted Thursday evening. “All employees of the health system deserve respectable working conditions. All of these workers are essential and important. I will make sure this is reflected in the state budget.
סיכמתי עם יו"ר ההסתדרות ועם נציגי עובדי המנהל והמשק על סיום השביתה. כל עובדי מערכת הבריאות ראויים לתנאי עבודה מכובדים. כולם חיוניים וכולם חשובים. אדאג שהדבר יתבטא במסגרת התקציב המדינה. pic.twitter.com/LiqWNRKJDm
— Nitzan Horowitz نيتسان هوروفيتس ניצן הורוביץ (@NitzanHorowitz) July 15, 2021
The workers had been striking since Tuesday at 6 a.m. Several other medical associations staged rallies in their support.
The strike included several general hospitals, mental health and rehabilitation facilities and geriatric hospitals. Among them were Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Those on strike were administrative workers, maintenance, cleaning and kitchen staff, hospital transport services and others.