Watch: Council members in Beit Shemesh broke into offices • What happened?

Beit Shemesh is stormy - and this time, for a change, the struggle is not between ultra-Orthodox and secular in the divided city.

City hall employees went on a surprise strike this morning (Thursday) in protest of their employment conditions. They say the collective agreement signed with them last year is not being implemented, despite repeated requests from Mayor Moshe Aboutbul.

In an unusual move, the workers' committee decided to lock the doors of the city hall and cut off the electricity, so that none of the workers or council members could enter the building.

In response, Deputy Mayor Shmulik Greenberg and Moshe Montag arrived, along with Municipality Director General Matti Hotha and other senior officials, and broke down the building's door themselves, with police backing.