The cabinet in its weekly session approved the Open Skies program as expected resulting in El Al and other Israelis airlines to announce a continuation of the strike that began early this morning, 11 Iyar 5773. Many flights have been cancelled today, and El Al, Arkia and IsaAir are informing ticket holders to check with airlines before setting out to the airport.
Labor leaders from the Israeli airlines appear determined to continue the open-ended strike, announcing they do not plan to return to work unless government officials are willing to sit and talk towards modifying the plan, which they insist will cause the Israeli airlines to crumble. Government ministers who voted for the Open Skies plan are pleased, confident the increased competition and additional flights to and from Israel by foreign airlines will provide less expensive and improved service for all.
Adding to the severity of the strike, the Histadrut National Labor Federation announced on Sunday afternoon it approves a total strike of Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday 13 Iyar 5773. At this stage it appears the labor federation plans to shut down the airport to all incoming and outgoing flights in the solidarity strike action.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
They’re striking because they’re too greedy and don’t want to deliver good prices and services–shame on them!
The communists are afraid of the competition.
What is the open skies program?
@Bored214 “open skies” means more competive prices meaning lower airfares.
Elal is broke, somone just bought 30% with an option to buy more up to 49%
The strike will cause their popularity to go down even more
Their points aren’t worth Anywhere near the competitors
me and most of the people ive spoken with look forward to competition and lowering of prices
Nos. 1, 2, and 5, the strike was declared by the companies’ labor; it isn’t a shutdown by greedy management and neither side is communist. The reason for it is a recurrent one the world over: if trade (in plane flights just as in textiles) becomes truly free, a sector that has structural disadvantages may go under. Labor claims that Israeli security requirements place Israeli airlines in this situation, placing thousands of jobs at risk. America went through this with industries that had obsolete infrastructures and lost millions of jobs.