At a meeting of the National Labor Court, Meir Shpeigler, who
serves as commissioner of religious services at the Prime
Minister's Office, pledged to transfer before Pesach NIS 9
million ($2 million) to pay salaries at the religious
councils, where workers have been suffering from withheld
wages for months.
Shpeigler issued the promise during a discussion at the
National Labor Court in Jerusalem of the Histadrut's request
to pay religious council workers.
Represented by Atty. Roxanna Lamdan the State protested
bringing the case before the Labor Court, claiming that the
problem is based on relations between the local authorities
and the State, not the workers. Lamdan also claims the State
transfers its share of the budget to the local authorities
and they fail to pass it on to the employees. She said that
this is the last time she is transferring funds for salaries
for religious council employees and that she does not see
herself as responsible for them.
Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini said the Histadrut would not
allow the workers to go unpaid. "Furthermore many local
authorities and the religious councils deduct from the
salaries the employees' share of education funds and pension
funds without passing them on to the designated recipients,"
he said. "This is a criminal offense. We contacted the State
Attorney to demand legal proceedings be taken against the
criminal heads of the authorities."
David Misheli, chairman of the Committee of Religious
Councils, says, "Before every chag they give us a band-
aid solution and later the problems return. They keep
transferring reserve funds from the government and after the
chag they're back to the same routine. I hope the
workers really do receive their money through merit and not
chessed and won't have to stand like paupers at the
door."
The Histadrut commended the pre-Pesach funding transfer but
said it was merely a partial solution. The Histadrut said it
would shut down the whole economy if the wage withholding
continued after the festival. Earlier National Labor Court
President Judge Steve Adler forced the State to provide
detailed explanations why the income was being withheld. "One
should not consent to the injustice done to the religious
council workers who do their work without getting paid," said
the judge.
