Histadrut declares Egged strike starting November 7

Egged
Egged

The strike follows the government's refusal to renew an agreement with the bus company.

This morning, at the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) Executive Leadership meeting, Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn announced that if the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport do not find an appropriate solution to the crisis looming over Egged employees, starting on November 7 the workers will stop the operation of all Egged buses, throughout Israel.

The Histadrut says that the disagreement revolves around the state's refusal to renew the input agreement with Egged's management, while significantly worsening the drivers' wage conditions and making an immediate threat to hold back their wages.

Nissenkorn said this morning, "Over the years, and more intensely recently, government officials have been trying to starve Egged and turn the drivers into a kind of contract workers. These steps, which are undertaken blatantly and while making worrying compromises on safety, damage not only the status of the drivers, but also the overall public interest. Instead of investing in public transport, increasing the drivers' output per hour, dealing with the acute shortage of qualified workforce, the state intends to cancel subsidies, at least half of which are intended to finance service to weakened sectors. The power and the responsibility to prevent this crisis from escalating and having severe repercussions for drivers and passengers are in the hands of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport."

Chairman of the Histadrut's Transportation Workers Union Avi Edri further adds, "The disregard of state officials towards the crisis in Egged does not betray only Egged drivers, but all of the people using public transportation in Israel. This is an oversight which might cause Egged to collapse, a company that has been operating since before Israel was founded. I hope that the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport understand that they hold responsibility not only for the job security of 6,000 drivers but for 1,200,000 citizens which these drivers provide with transportation on a daily basis, while the state continues undermining their livelihood. We will employ all available means to protect the drivers and their important role."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018