Social Services Strike Enters Seventh Week Jerusalem (JTA) — Social ser- vices in Israel have virtually ground to a halt as a strike by the nation's estimated 9,000 social workers entered its seventh week and salary negotiations with the Treasury failed to yield an agree- ment. "It is one of the longest strikes (in Israel) based on the unwill- ingness of the government to pro- vide a living wage for the social work profession," said Brian Aus- lander, director of a local welfare office, at a news conference this week. The strike has created special difficulties in cases of child abuse and abortion, both areas in which a social worker's involvement is legally required, as well as in hos- pitals and in elderly home care. The social workers say there have been 2,000 to 3,000 appeals to them for urgent intervention, only several dozen of which have been granted. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ora Namir issued back- to-work orders this week to about 70 social workers and warned them to call off the strike or she would "take all possible steps to end it." Ms. Namir, who ordered an additional 70 social workers back to their jobs last week, has won the Cabinet's approval to issue 710 such orders. The move "makes us very an- gry," said Eli Ben-Gera, secretary general of the Social Workers Union. He said such orders are sup- posed to be issued by the gov- ernment only in times of national emergency and instead "are be- ing used to break our strike." Social workers struck after the Treasury failed to honor a pre- liminary contract agreement reached 18 months ago to up- grade their pay. They have been working without a contract ever since. Most full-time social workers receive salaries from the govern- ment that fall below the mini- mum wage, which is roughly $500 a month gross, Mr. Aus- lander said. Seventy percent of them receive mandated supple- mental assistance to bring them up to the minimum wage level, he said. "Our wages are very similar to our clients'," said Esther Sapiria, who described herself as a su- pervisor at a local welfare agency. According to the Treasury, however, the average gross salary for a social worker at the end of Social workers struck after the Treasury failed to honor a preliminary contract agreement reached 18 months ago. last year was $1,000 a month, roughly the same as an acade- mic employee in the public sec- tor. Treasury officials are prepared to give the social workers an in- crease of between 45 to 50 per- cent over the next four years, but the social workers are standing firm in their demand for an in- crease of 60 percent, Mr. Ben- Gera said. Na'amat, Israel's largest women's labor organization, has come out in support of the strike. Nearly 90 percent of Israel's so- cial workers are women. Hezbollah Is Planning Attacks In Germany Berlin (JTA) — A German news- paper this week carried a report that the Islamic fundamentalist Hezbollah movement is planning to launch attacks against Israeli targets in Germany to avenge the kidnapping of one of their lead- ers by Israel last month. The German weekly Der Spiegel quoted Arab intelligence sources who said that interna- tional terrorist groups are as- sisting Hezbollah in their new mission. The newspaper reported that an adviser to the international terrorist known as Carlos has left his hiding place in Iran and gone to Beirut. As part of the planned reprisals, the Abu Nidal Pales- tinian terrorist group has smug- gled into Germany four activists who arrived from Beirut via Cyprus using false identities, the paper reported. us this .ot ow prices with° initiati' . Ily Individual S Sports p Club of West Bloomfield Farmington Road, Just north of Maple 61,9880 .;:iiiiiii,i... ..,:;i: ::::::::.. 82 Call Today ...iii.