Jerusalem District Labor Court Judge Sarah Shdeour today ordered drivers working for the Jerusalem light rail to go back to work immediately. "It would be odd to say that all the drivers being sick at the same time was a coincidence," she ruled.
CityPass management said, "Negotiations took place on Thursday in which a proposal was made to the workers' committee to improve their salaries, and they rejected it out of hand, even though their pay is among the highest in the public transportation sector. You would have to be very naive to think that they all suddenly became sick simultaneously. What we have here is a clear attempt by the workers to wreck the negotiations and go on strike without a valid labor dispute. As of now, there are no trains in Jerusalem at all, and the passengers' daily life is being significantly and needlessly disrupted."
Disruptions on the Jerusalem Light Rail substantially escalated today, After a number of drivers announced yesterday that sickness would keep them from working today, a third of the drivers today reported that they had been affected, and almost all the trains were halted. Light Rail franchise holder CityPass expects railway traffic to shut down completely later today.
Management asserted that the workers were illegally trying to improve their employment terms in contravention of a decision last month by the Labor Court.
"Unfortunately, the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) does not control the drivers' representatives, and within a short time, the 'disruptions' became an unrestrained wildcat general strike," CityPass declared. "The damage caused to the passengers is insufferable, and the timing during the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday is outrageous, and no coincidence."
CityPass management petitioned the court to force the drivers to return to work and prevent severe damage to passengers during the holiday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport announced that it would increase the number of buses on the light railway routes. Egged began stepping up its service on lines 20, 21, 23, 27, and 29, which will be extended to the Central Bus Station, instead of only to Mt. Herzl. In addition, regular bus lines are operating from Pisgat Zeev and Givat HaTachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) toward the city center.
Histadrut Jerusalem chairman Danny Bonfil stated, "It is CityPass's responsibility to find out why the workers are not coming to work. Can someone prove that they are not sick? I am not a doctor."
He added, "We gave the workers' committee a clear order not to strike. When I want to go on strike, even if it is a wildcat strike, I go on strike, but that is not the case here."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 29, 2015
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