Israeli general strike enters third day

Feb 10, 2012, 7:33 GMT

Tel Aviv - Israel entered its third day of a countrywide national strike Friday, after trade unions and the Finance Ministry failed to reach an agreement to end the disruptions.

The open-ended strike was called by the Histadrut Trade Union Federation, to demand better conditions for contract workers with poor job security.

Late Thursday, National Labour Court President Nili Arad ordered the sides to continue negotiations, and report back to her on Friday afternoon.

If no agreement was reached over the weekend, she would review the situation early Sunday - the start of the Israeli working week - and the court would then decide whether or not to issue injunctions ending the strike, the Jerusalem Post daily reported.

Basic services came to a standstill, including government offices, city councils, trains, banks, post offices and higher-education institutions.

Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv also shut down briefly on Wednesday.

The Histadrut has requested that the Finance Ministry improve the employment conditions of contract workers lacking tenure, including social workers and cleaners.