Can an Israeli employer dismiss or discipline employees who take part in a strike?

The framework separates the collective dispute from the individual contract. A strike declared by the representative workers’ organisation after the statutory cooling-off notice is a collective act, and the labor courts have consistently held that dismissing or penalising individual participants amounts to unlawful retaliation. A wildcat action, meaning one launched without the union or without the notice, loses that protection, although even then the employer must run a proper pre-dismissal hearing before acting against anyone. Employers seeking to stop the action apply to the Regional Labour Court for an injunction against the union, and the court balances the right to strike against the harm, applying a stricter test where essential services are involved.

Foreign-owned employers in Israel are often caught out by two features of the system. The first is that the Section 5A notice goes to the Chief Labour Relations Officer at the Ministry of Labour as well as to the employer, so the ministry’s conciliation machinery engages before any walkout begins. The second is that a strike does not interrupt continuity of employment, meaning seniority, severance accrual, and notice entitlements keep running even though wages stop. Bringing in agency workers to replace strikers is treated as a serious breach and invites an immediate injunction. Read the guide to trade unions and collective agreements in Israel before responding to a strike notice.

From the full guide: Trade Unions and Collective Agreements in Israel: What Foreign Workers Need to Know

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