Comments on the OECD report “The Public Sector Pay System in Israel” and its political use in Israel

On 21 June 2021, the OECD published a report on “The Public Sector Pay System in Israel”. Therein, the OECD assesses labour relations in the Israeli public sector and delivers fairly radical recommendations for reform, particularly in Chapter 3 on “Improving Labour Relations in Israel’s Public Sector”.

Over the past year, the report has become a cornerstone of the Israeli Government’s position on all engagement and negotiation between the Government of Israel and Israel’s General Federation of Labour, Histadrut.

TUAC reviewed the report considering the role and structure of collective bargaining institutions in Israel, pointing out to significant biasness and lack of evidence in the picture portrayed by the OECD. This study should not represent the basis or argument for any major reform of the public sector pay system nor of collective bargaining mechanisms in Israel.

Detailed comments can be found in the attached document.