Some 320 employees of the Taibeh municipality went on strike Monday morning in protest of overdue salary payments, possibly the longest among the deficit-ridden local authorities in Israel.

The majority of employees, 270, have not been paid for 13 months, while the remaining 50 did not receive salary payments for two years.

Withheld salary payments in local authorities across the country triggered a general strike led by the Histadrut Labor Federation three weeks ago. In a settlement reached with the mediation of the National Labor Court, the Finance Ministry channeled NIS 70 million to 23 debt-ridden local authorities for the immediate payment of withheld wages.

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But unlike other local authorities, the Taibeh municipality had not received any of the funds because its assets are under repossession by debtors, and therefore wage monies would have been confiscated.