Last update - 00:00 03/02/2008
Histadrut chair warns of strike if gov't does not boost dollar
By Ora Koren, TheMarker
Histadrut labor federation Chairman Ofer Eini threatened Sunday to call a general strike for one day if the government does not intervene in regards to the plummeting exchange rate of the dollar against the shekel.
According to Eini, who spoke at a meeting of leading industrialists alongside Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai, said that he thought maybe a general strike would jolt the government into action.
Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association, called on the Bank of Israel to lower the interest rate by 1 percent in order to avoid "speculative capital investments that will weaken the dollar even more."
Yishai said that he would support the taxation of speculative capital investments, if the government were to explore the option.
During the meeting, industrialists said that they have already begun firing workers due to the losses that have accumulated in export markets in the wake of the dip in the dollar exchange rate.
Related articles: