Israel's largest worker union Histadrut has threatened to launch a nationwide strike, demanding to pay wages to workers obliged to undergo quarantine amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, the union announced a general labour dispute, meaning that in 14 days it can legally launch a general strike that will shut down the whole Israeli economy, reports Xinhua news agency.

In late September, Histadrut, the Ministry of Finance, and the employers' representatives reached an agreement on how to divide the burden of payments for quarantine days, but the outline has not been put to a vote in Parliament yet.

"So far, no solution has been found, leaving workers in an impossible situation, with severe damage to their day-to-day viability," the union said in a statement.

Arnon Bar David, chairman of Histadrut, said that "the purpose of the labour dispute we have declared today is not to shut down the country but to protect the workers".

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