Lynn and Eini: We will establish a joint team for negotiations and settelments

The two man met at a special presidential meeting at the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce on which the Histadrut CEO was a guest of honor. Lynn: “This is an historical event”. Eini: “the employers and workers should be on the same side of the fence”
 
According to Lynn this is an historical event, and it’s the first time ever in which the Histadrut CEO is coming as a guest to the commerce chambers. “you are among friends, we share the will to advance workers and the conditions they work in. The board of the Federation is interested in raising the worker’s salaries, but being responsible in doing so, and acknolwdging the need to not harm the business sector”.
 
Lynn Added that the federation wants to open a blank page with the Histadrut and the communication between the two institutes.
 
Eini: “The employers and the workers need to be on the same side of the fence. The employers big mistake was to let the government feels like it owns them. My final goal is to reenliven the triangle employers-government and Histadrut. This triangle led to the departure of the inflation crisis in 84’, and there is no reason why it should not set an example in the future and lead our economy forward.
 
Lynn said that one of the major problems is that the strikes have gone too far and harmed a wide range of the public, a public that shouldn’t have been affected by the strikes, not that we should forbid the right to strike. “we have extensive activity with the government and its institutes, we are not in the government’s pocket and we were never in its pocket.
 
Eini added that working relations should concentrate on discussion, in union agreements and not in legislation. Eini agreed and said that strike is the last mean. He even joked and advised Lynn not to submit restraining order bacsue the strike will be so powerfull it will be done with within 24 hours.
 
Eini also talked about the need to implement minimum wages in order to pull workers out of poverty’s vicious circle, and said that the Histadrut will have a strong professional union with no political aspirations. Eini said that widening orders need to be done with the consent of the employer, but he didn’t reject the idea of mandatory arbitration and said that if there will be agreements the mandatory arbitration institution will be redundant. 
 
Regarding this matter Lynn said: we have genuine worries for those who get low wages. We were the first who came to the minister of Finance and asked to cancle ‘bituach leumi’ for those who earn up to half the average wages in the market”.
Regarding the union agreements, Lynn was supportive of Eini and said that the Federation is in favor of creating equal conditions for all the workers. “But we don’t think that a widenning order needs to contradict a previous agreement or a previous widening order”.
 
Eini mentioned that the former minister of Finance tried to weaken the Histadrut institute, an act which hurts not only the workers but also the employers. In his estimate, without a strong Histadrut institute there will be a federation of committees with plenty of interests and no real benefit or responsibility for the economy. “These committees need an umbrella organization which will look into the wider interest of the public.
As a response to this, Lynn said that he had never heard about any intention of the minister of Finance to disassamble the Histadrut, but agreed that “it is important to have an umbrella organization that is being responsible about the entire economy and is not after its own interets”.