In 2023, a decrease of 50 was recorded% The number of strikes and strikes in the economy in relation to the year 2022, according to the report of the Labor Relations Commissioner published today (Thursday). During the year there were 16 full strikes in which approximately 73 thousand strikers took part, this compared to 32 full strikes in 2022 in which approximately 140 participated A thousand strikers.
What may explain the dramatic decrease in the number of strikes is the fact that in 2023, 421 special agreements were signed in workplaces and 41 general agreements, concerning the industry or the entire economy, compared to 406 special agreements and 47 general agreements in 2022.
Shorter strikes, mostly in education and health
A decrease was recorded in the number of working days lost to the economy as a result of strikes, when in 2023 the economy lost approximately 266 thousand working days compared to approximately 334 thousand in 2022. Throughout the year there were no prolonged strikes at all. 75% Out of all the strikes lasted from two hours to only one working day, about 13% From one day to three days, and about 12% Over three days and up to fourteen days.
There was also a decrease in the number of partial strikes (sanctions) in 2023, in which there were 10 partial strikes in which approximately 26,000 strikers took part, compared to 12,000 partial strikes in 2022 in which approximately 100,000 workers participated.
During the year were announced 142 labor disputes, approx.60% Of these, the Chief Commissioner for Labor Relations and the regional commissioners at the Ministry of Labor handled through mediation, mediation and agreed arbitration – and ended in collective agreements or agreements between the parties.
About 25% Of the strikes in 2023 were as a result of wage claims, and led to the loss of approximately 56% of all working days lost to the economy. About 25% There were parties related to signing employment agreements or renewing agreements. about 19% were as a result of organizational changes, about 12% There were protest strikes against violence against workers, and about 19% For reasons related to employee layoffs, issues of contractual employment (and a requirement for direct employment) or due to the sale of companies.
38% Of the full strikes in 2023 were in the field of education. About 31% In the health, welfare and relief services, about 13% In the public and local administration, about 6% In industry, about 6% in the transportation services, and about 6% in the information and communication services. 94% Of the strikes were in the public sector (99% of the total number of working days lost to the economy) compared to about 6% In the private sector (a single percent of all working days worked for the economy).
“For 4 years now, the number of strikes has been decreasing”
“The decrease in strike rates in 2023 indicates a trend towards stability and industrial peace in the labor relations system, and indicates an increase in the importance of intra-plant agreements and the establishment of mediation mechanisms,” said the commissioner of labor relations, attorney Rivka Verbner. According to her, the war that broke out in the last quarter of the year contributed to a decrease in the scope of strikes, but a substantial contribution to this was caused by the expansion of the ministry’s activities in the field of labor relations.
Adv. Rivka Verbner, chief supervisor of labor relations in the labor branch of the Ministry of Economy (photo: Amr Cohen)
“We have been on a downward trend in the number of strikes for 4 years, and our unit is very important in this,” said Verbner. “In more than half of the labor disputes, we manage to reach agreements acceptable to the parties during the 14 cooling-off days required by law before starting organizational measures. Today, our unit mediates and mediates on a daily basis between employers and workers’ councils. Today, there is no such thing as declaring a labor dispute and we do not call to understand how we can contribute to its end“.
Verbner noted that This year, a ‘team of mediators’ was established for the first time, consisting of a number of renowned external experts in the field of labor relations, who can be used to resolve disputes both in the private sector and in the essential public (non-governmental) sector, with the aim of providing an increased response to conflict resolution in the economy. “Both the workers’ organizations and the Ministry of Finance showed up for the discussions and were helped by our team of mediators. We have become a body that is accepted by the parties and the parties use it“.
The commissioner also noted that, on the recommendation of the Labor Relations Unit, Labor Minister Yoav Ben Tzur signed three expansion orders in 2023, Regarding the payment of wages to employees during the operations ‘Dawn’ and ‘Magan and Arrow’, as well as regarding the update of recovery fees. In addition, five more expansion orders were signed in 2024, Two decrees concerning the extension of the protection of reservists against layoffs, granting days of absence to their spouses and giving the possibility to carry over entitlement to vacation days for reservists who did not have time to take advantage of it in 2023, two decrees concerning the payment of wages during the Iron Swords War and a decree applying the reform in the wages of social workers to those working in associations and privatized services.
Minister of Labor Yoav Ben Tzur (Photo: Yonatan Zindel/Flash90)
“We put the rights of the workers in the economy at the forefront of our minds,” said Labor Minister Yoav Ben Tzur. “In the past year, we brought some significant news, including raising the minimum wage, protecting reservists, reservist women and their spouses, improving employment conditions for workers and social workers who do holy work All year round and even more so in the ‘Iron Swords’ war. My vision is to respond to the labor market by investing in human capital to enable a labor market with high productivity and quality employment for all sectors. In addition to investing in training and naming, the Ministry of Labor works tirelessly to mediate labor disputes, to enable appropriate working conditions, and to reduce strikes in the economy.“
