Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., July 01, 2009 Tamuz 9, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:10 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Week-long strike at sheltered living centers hurts residents
By Dana Weiler-Polak

The workers of the Mishan sheltered living network have been carrying out labor sanctions for more than a week now.

The network's senior assisted living facilities and three youth villages have only minimal staff - levels usually used for Shabbat.
Advertisement

"The strike deprives us of all the essential services, transportation to the dining room, and all activities," said Aliza Russo, who lives in the senior assisted living facility in Ramat Efal. Laboratory services were not operating, and workers did not let the cleaning company clean the residences yesterday, she added.

Mishan is a subsidiary of the Histadrut labor federation and the largest seniors home network in the country, with 1,250 workers.

Management has refused to show them the financial books for 2008, despite its plan to fire employees, they say.

"Six months ago [management] wanted to fire 244 workers when they closed Mishan Ra'anana, and they claimed that would be the end of their demands," said Kohava Kenister, head of the workers committee. "Now they're back with a streamlining plan, and when we asked to see the books to understand where the deficit was coming from, they refused."

The company reportedly has a deficit of NIS 112 million and growing.

"We have no pretensions to ask for raises; we only want to be partners to the plan," Kenister added.

Mishan's Ramat Efal facility is located on a 16-dunam (4-acre) property, which makes it very hard for the elderly residents to get around, even to the dining room. "One of the residents had open-heart surgery and she had to go for a check-up, but she can't get the tests she needs. They're using us to influence management," Russo said.

'Skeletal staffing'

Kenister said, weeping: "I've been part of the system for 29 years and we're trying to hold [sanctions] with minimum harm to the residents. This is not the Electric Corporation. I don't have a switch I can pull. So we decided on skeleton staffing and not a full-blown strike."

Mishan's management said it regretted the workers had decided to declare a labor dispute on baseless claims, and called on the workers to end their sanctions in order to avoid hurting the residents. The workers declared the dispute because of the plan to reduce the deficit without hearing what the main points of the plan were, and still refuse to discuss the matter with management, it claimed.

"I told Kohava she could come whenever she wanted and I would show her the reports, explain what we need to put her mind at ease, and if after several meetings her people still believe things are missing, we'll take it from there," said Meir Ben-Hamu, deputy financial director general at Mishan.

Ben-Hamu said Kenister refused to hear the details of the plan because she said listening to it would be tantamount to agreeing to it.

"We are a Histadrut subsidiary and we want to reduce the deficit in any way that does not hurt the workers, and it affects them in minor ways, but without dialogue they won't know it," Ben-Hamu said.
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Gaza probe dropped
Spanish court drops 'war crimes' investigation into 2002 IDF strike in Gaza
PM backs Lieberman
Netanyahu reaffirms support for Lieberman after Sarkozy remarks
Special Offers
Advertisement
hotel Jerusalem
David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
00:34 Israel agrees to work toward settlement halt
23:21 U.K. deplores Israel decision to build 50 new West Bank homes
23:11 Activist on boat seized by IDF laments world apathy to Gaza
20:15 Netanyahu reaffirms support for Lieberman after Sarkozy remarks
18:17 Spain court drops 'war crimes' probe of 2002 IDF strike in Gaza
21:07 Bomb kills 30 in Kirkuk as U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq cities
19:42 Romania students suspected of buying bones from Holocaust-era mass grave
20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
22:35 Egypt extends deadline for Palestinian unity talks to July 28
15:13 Rights group: IDF didn't verify air strike targets in Gaza conflict
21:58 Life sentence sought for alleged ringleader in murder of French Jew
23:35 Haaretz Group launches international travel guide for Israelis
14:36 IN PICTURES / Gay Pride, Israel and worldwide
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved