Eight days of strike action by technicians at publicly funded coronavirus testing labs came to an end Sunday after an agreement was reached with the health and finance ministries that will include a wage increase for workers.
The union of biochemists and laboratory workers said in a statement that the breakthrough came during a meeting between Histadrut labor federation chairman Arnon Bar-David and representatives of the two ministries, held at his office.
The final details of the agreement will be ironed out in the coming days, the statement said, but noted it will include a wage increase for lab technicians.
Workers will return to work as soon as possible, the statement said.
Around 2,000 laboratory workers at some 400 labs started an open-ended strike August 30 amid a pay dispute with the treasury. Lab technicians said they are paid a fraction of what workers doing the same job at private clinics get, creating an unfair disparity that also makes it hard to attract or keep workers, leading to them being overworked.
Coronavirus testing continued during the labor action, but only those who tested positive were given their results to enable continuation of epidemiological surveys.
As talks last week failed to make progress, the lab union had threatened to also stop notifying individuals who were carriers of the virus.
During the strike, workers at public laboratories only provided emergency diagnostic services to public hospitals that reportedly only covered those in departments such as intensive care, emergency rooms and maternity wards.
Tests were not processed for patients awaiting release from hospitals, or for those awaiting non-essential surgery.
Israel has been carrying out up to 30,0000 virus tests a day as it faces a second wave of infections that over the weekend took the national toll past the grim 1,000 deaths mark and last week saw a record of over 3,000 cases diagnosed in a single day.
As of Sunday morning there were 26,232 active patients in Israel, 445 of whom were in a serious condition, with 119 on ventilators. The number of fatalities from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, stood at 1,010.
Since the start of the global pandemic there have been 129,349 confirmed virus cases in Israel, of which 102,107 have recovered.
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September 06, 2020 at 10:38PM
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Virus lab workers end strike as agreement reached with treasury - The Times of Israel
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