Israel Ministry of Finance building. Photo: wiki commons.

JPost – A general strike began Wednesday at 6 a.m after all-night negotiations between the Histadrut and the Treasury over the employment status of contract workers led to no breakthrough.

Hope was raised early Wednesday morning that a strike could be averted after the Finance Ministry offered an additional NIS 200 million for a budget aimed at improving the conditions of contract workers. In the middle of the night, Histadrut labor federation chairman Ofer Eini confirmed the offer and described it as progress but did not say if he had accepted it.

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