The Israel State Attorneys’ Association, which represents approximately 1,100 public sector attorneys, formally declared a labor dispute last week in response to legal reforms being advanced by the current government.
The lawyers’ central demand is that the legal reform include a collective agreement protecting their working conditions and job security. They argue that this framework will allow them to settle all of the issues arising in relation to the reform, including their continued employment and the effects of the reform on their status, advancement, salaries, terms of service and retirement.
Among other things, the attorneys note that the reform would allow private lawyers to represent the state in legal proceedings, a change that could harm state attorneys’ rights.
"The government's intention is to make organizational changes unilaterally and in a way that will seriously damage the job security of the attorneys as civil servants, their status, their advancement and their conditions," said Orit Korin, chairwoman of the State Attorneys’ Association. "What the government is proposing is a harmful process that is being carried out in bad faith and in a way that is unacceptable in labor relations in general, and in particular in collective labor relations in the civil service. Things are being done unilaterally, bypassing the agreed collective framework and without any prior discussion with the organization."
Korin stated that if the unilateral moves continue as they have so far, the organization will not hesitate to use all of the tools at its disposal, including going on strike. This State Attorneys’ Association will be eligible to initiate a strike only after a 14-day cooling-off period from the date of the announcement of the labor dispute.ֿ
A strike by state attorneys could make it difficult for the government to present its case in civil and criminal proceedings, something that could lead to heavy expenses for the state if the courts rule against it.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Matt Levy.
