Professors for a Strong Israel
Statement to the Press - 20 September 2004
Re: There is no excuse for withholding wages
Professors for a Strong Israel calls on the Minister of the Interior,
Avraham Poraz, to do the soul searching appropriate to the season and to
reconsider his tyrannical policy.
There is no doubt that the local authorities need a thorough housecleaning
and reconstruction, but it is reprehensible to withhold pay from the workers
for work already done.
All the more so is it inconceivable to revoke the right enshrined in law
to compensation for withheld wages, when these wages have been withheld
for many months.
And this is not the only idea voiced by the minister that bespeaks his
detachment from the social and economic realities of the country.
This is a good time to remind Poraz of his surrender in the matter of combining
neighboring local authorities for greater efficiency; this also has
contributed to the current crisis and exacerbated it.
While the ordinary municipal workers have to make do without their
salaries, is it right that the minister and the mayors get their
paychecks regularly? Has it occurred to them to make donations
to their needy employees?
And finally a question for the press: Would a minister from another party
merit such gentle treatment in these circumstances?
Dr. Ron Breiman, Chairman of PSI
Tel: 050-5-518 940