Avi Nissenkorn, Histadrut Chairperson, referred to the agreement:

"Today we bring a real message to the employees in Israel. We declared that we will not be satisfied with an increase of only NIS 200 (equivalent to $50.07) and we fulfilled this promise. We promised to pave the way for a dignified life for 700,000 families and we did it. This is a day of celebration also for the population of workers with disabilities. I am proud to lead the first organization that made sure to promote an agreement that everyone benefits from - employees and their families and no less so, the public service as well, which will receive a new, quality workforce. The Histadrut, which sees itself as the largest social organization in Israel, has set a goal for itself to continue to work towards the reduction of social gaps and the eradication of harmful employment phenomena ".

The agreement determines that the minimum wage will be raised by NIS 700 (equivalent to $175.26) and will stand at NIS 5,000 (equivalent to $1,251.87). The wage increase will take place in three phases over the next two years.

Another achievement, also included in the framework of the new wage agreement, relates to the mechanism for updating the minimum wage in the future. Under the agreement, it was determined that the minimum wage in the future will be 52% of the average wage, and not 47.5% as is customary today. This mechanism will come into effect upon completion of the three phases.

These achievements join the initiative led by Histadrut to employ workers with disabilities in the public sector which was approved in late November by the government. According to the decision, by 2017 there will be a minimum of 3% of workers with disabilities employed in public services. At the end of this period, the government will consider increasing the percentage of workers with disabilities by an additional 2%.

Read the full article on the Histadrut website.