In February the Histradrut signed a national agreement covering contract workers in the private and public sectors. Essentially contract workers, such as cleaners and security staff working on public sector contracts, will now benefit from the pay increases applied in the public sector and a range of other provisions such as pensions, a study fund, meal allowances and convalescence plans. The agreement will result in around 1000 contract workers being taken on directly by public sector employers and in future there will be close monitoring of the pay and conditions of contract staff who work alongside directly employed staff doing the same job.