One of Terminals of Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images
Workers of the Israel Airports Authority were almost set for a Sabbath break. But following progress in negotiations late on Thursday, a planned strike of unionized workers at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport from Friday night through Saturday was called off. The news came as a relief to many, notably because the strike would have been at the peak of tourist season — 30,000 passengers and 200 incoming and outgoing flights are expected to pass through the airport during that time period.
When announcing the strike earlier on Thursday, the workers union had threatened that only emergency staff would be working over Friday night and Saturday. Workers had planned to shut down outbound services at the airport, potentially forcing hundreds of flights departing on Saturday to be rescheduled, although arrivals would have taken place as scheduled. But now intensive negotiations are set to continue on Sunday; in the meantime the airport will operate as usual.
The issue of contention concerns the number and rights of contract workers compared to unionized workers. The Airports Authority currently has 3,400 employees and 500 contract workers. There had been a labor-management stalemate, with the unionized workers’ committee demanding restrictions on the number of contract workers, their positions, and their rights. “It is unacceptable for the Airports Authority to expand this exploitative employment at a time when everyone is talking about ending the employment of contract workers,” said workers’ committee chairman Pinchas Idan on Thursday. However, the threat of a strike seems to have led to concessions, which have not yet been disclosed to the public.
The last such strike was on June 24, protesting what the union said was a management-caused staffing shortage. (Night shift baggage handlers who had completed their quota of aircraft refused to continue working.) “Unfortunately, the management did not prepare in advance to take on more manpower before the rise in passenger numbers in the summer months,” the union stated. But clearly, expanding the number of contract workers was not the solution that the union wanted to see.
Neighboring Jordan is also relieved that Ben Gurion will stay fully operational. A crippling sandstorm that hit the kingdom earlier in the week caused several Amman-bound flights to be diverted; they landed at Ben Gurion instead. Hopefully a similar emergency won’t arise again this weekend, but at least there is a safety net available next door.
