Israeli nurses end strike after 17 days

Israeli nurses on Thursday ended their 17-day strike after reaching an agreement of the treasury concerning their pay raise. The agreement was reached during Wednesday night meeting between both parties at chambers of the Labor Court Judge Nili Arad, in which they've agreed on a 13 percent raise of nurses' salaries. The raise will be carried out through a series of payments over the next four and a half years and will be gradual with a 3.1 percent raise per year during the period of the contract. In addition, a senior medical official told the Ha'aretz daily that the Finance Ministry took back its demand for two more nursing shifts per month. During the strike, 7,000 non-urgent surgeries and thousands of tests were delayed and medical experts estimated that if the strike would have gone any longer, it would perhaps lead to the outbreaks of diseases. The shortage of nurses is one of the biggest problems the country is facing due to the low wages, which creates a burden on existing nurses. Israel's number of nurses per capita is 476 per 100,000, which is one of the lowest in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. National Nurses Union chairwoman, Ilana Cohen, who has led the ongoing struggle, told Israel Radio the nurses were happy and satisfied with the agreement. Finance Ministry representative, Attorney Kobi Amsalem, said in a statement that he welcomed the agreement and that the increase in wages would encourage more candidates to choose nursing as a profession. "This agreement will also bring a significant period of peace in stability in the health care system for the greater benefit of the patients," he added. Last week, the Nurses Association chief Ilana Cohen told Xinhua that this strike was a matter of "national emergency" and said that the fight was not just of the nurses but of the citizens of Israel.