Israeli labor court rules: Ongoing strike is 'political,' to conclude at 2:30 p.m.

The National Labor Court ruled on Monday that the general strike launched by the Histadrut, the state’s largest labor union, was illegal and thus void.

Following the ruling, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David announced the strike was over, and workers were ordered to return to work at 2:30 p.m.

Bar-David first announced the strike on Sunday afternoon, saying the government was not doing enough to bring the hostages home. On Sunday evening, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich via the State Attorney’s Office and with the consent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, filed an injunction request to the Labor Court to end the strike. A similar injunction request was filed by the Gvura Forum, which represents family members of fallen soldiers.

The court ruled soon after hearing the case that since the strike was “a protest” by nature and not related to workers’ rights, it needed to have been coordinated in advance and lasted for a limited period of a few hours.

The strike was announced less than 12 hours prior to its start and was not limited, and was therefore illegal, the court ruled. The court added that the ruling was only relevant to the Histadrut and that other unions as well as business forums were not included.

A second proceeding was an appeal to the High Court of Justice against the legal status of the strike, filed by members of the Gvura Forum, and of the Tikva Forum, which includes a number of families of hostages in Hamas captivity. The High Court rejected the appeal on the grounds that its proper place was in the Labor Court.

Legislation to address class action laws

Smotrich praised the decision and praised the “vast majority” of workers who he said ignored the strike and went to work. The finance minister did not provide proof of this. In an attempt to sway workers from participating in the strike, Smotrich announced on Sunday evening that workers who went on strike would not receive salaries for the day and would not be reimbursed later on, as often happens in similar situations.

Smotrich added following the ruling that “the days where someone harnesses the power of organized work to advance political interests” were over, “especially during a war and when it serves the interests of Hamas and [its leader Yahya] Sinwar.”

Earlier on Monday, Negev and Galilee Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf penned a letter to Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Constitution Committee Chairman MK Simcha Rothman requesting that they launch legislation to update class action laws so that they will enable workers and civilians to sue the Histadrut for damages suffered due to the strike.

Likud MK Dan Illouz called on the government to advance two pieces of legislation that he proposed last year. The first would force striking unions to go through an arbitration process. The second would cancel the current law whereby a third of workers in a public sector workplace may decide for the entire workplace whether or not to join the Histadrut and enable workers to choose which union to belong to if at all.