A new wage agreement was signed today (Sunday) for nurses in public hospitals at Klalit health fund, and in public health services. As part of the agreement, the nurses will receive a raise of hundreds of NIS a month beyond the public sector general agreement.
According to a statement by the Finance Ministry and the Histadrut, the agreement includes pay raises beyond the general public sector framework (including increases in total amounts and percentages). Nurses in administrative positions will also be given raises, as well as for shift managers.
They also added that from January 2024, a retention grant will be paid to nurses in rehabilitation and geriatric hospitals, as well as mental health hospitals, and other places.
Wages Will Increase, Grants Given to Nurses in Geriatric and Mental Health Hospitals
The agreements had been reached before the holidays, after long months of in-depth negotiations between the Histadrut and the Finance Ministry and employers with the aim of providing nurses with a significant increase in pay. After the signing was delayed due to the war, the parties decided to put it off no further.
Finance Ministry Betzalel Smotrich welcomed the agreement, saying it “expresses the great appreciation for the dedication of the nurses who occupy an important and significant role in handling and caring for the health of Israel’s citizens, especially in these days where they are the front line of care for the wounded in this war.”
According to Smotrich, the pay agreement will increase nurses’ pay and also provide a grant for nurses in the geriatric and mental health hospitals. “We will continue to look after the health system and strengthen the rear and national resilience. Together we will win,” said the Finance Minister.
The supervisor of pay and labor agreements at the Finance Ministry, Efi Malkin, said: “The agreement signed, the fruit of long and complex negotiations, is balanced and gives an emphasis in places where the health system needs particular attention, among others in the field of mental health and the field of rehabilitation and geriatrics, and this trend will continue also in future agreements throughout the health system.”