ABSTRACT
The law of strikes in Israel is deliberately general and highly discretionary. This chapter focuses on the more important components of the law of strikes implementation-in-fact, namely, the use of judicial discretion in cases where employers seek an injunction against striking workers. It examines the construction and implementation of the law by the Israeli labor court between 1990 and 1997. The chapter tests two competing views on the role of labor law, and of labor courts as a derivative, in the resolution of collective labor disputes. One view limits the law to a set of procedural rules, and the court's task is merely to administer them. The other view holds labor law as a means to actively facilitate collective dispute resolution, granting judges broad, flexible, and discretionary standards, which can be applied in the way which best fits the needs of the parties to the dispute.
