Israel strike cripples business

Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv turned away passengers

About 400,000 public sector workers have gone on strike in Israel, in protest at the delayed payment of wages to municipal workers.

Some workers have not been paid for several months, the strikers say.

Closures at banks, public hospitals, postal services and transport facilities have crippled business.

Some commentators say the strike is part of a campaign against Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's free-market reforms and cost cuts.

Mr Netanyahu has been trying to restrain pay increases as part of reforms aimed at revitalising the economy but has met with union opposition.

Unions say that its members have not been paid due to lack of government funding and large council debts.

"Workers should not be used as hostages in Netanyahu's populist power games," said Amir Peretz, chief of Histadrut Labour Federation, which called the strike.

STRIKE IMPACT Hospital emergencies only Banks closed, cash machines working Court judges working EL Al airline schedule disrupted Schools open No unemployment payments Waste collection disrupted Rail services cut Seaports closed

Mr Peretz said that the strike, which is the third nationwide strike since April 2003, will continue until a deal has been reached on municipal worker pay.

Disruption

The extent of the general strike is far-reaching.

Rail services have been shut down and seaports and border crossings partially closed.

Hospitals are open only for patients needing immediate attention, banks have closed their cash machines and petrol stations have shut down.

Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport has closed to outgoing travellers meanwhile four incoming flights for Israel's national carrier, El Al, were forced to land outside of the country, an airline spokesman said.

About 7,000 members of religious councils have stopped work, preventing people registering for weddings and burying the dead.

The city morgues are now reported to have reached their full capacity, reports said.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has been closed until further notice, according to a spokesman for the Histadrut labour federation.

Deeper concern

Manufacturers are worried about the economic impact of the strike.

"Israel has ceased to be a place to do business," said Oded Tyrah, head of Israel's Manufacturers Association.

The Manufacturers Association estimates the strike would cost the public sector 960 million shekels ($214 m) per day.

The General Federation of Labour known as the Histadrut, was formed in 1920 when the first Assembly of Jewish Workers in Palestine met in Haifa to create a single organisation that would represent all the workers, whatever their trade or profession.