Bus Strike Threatened Monday

Egged bus drivers were threatening to go on strike throughout the country on Monday to force management to come to terms, Arutz Sheva reported.

The strike was declared for just one day, and some “security sensitive” or particularly busy routes will be kept running, but the work action bodes a long day of commuter inconvenience and financial loss for businesses.

As a cooperative, Egged consists of several independent branches. According to the company, not all drivers will be striking at all branches in northern Israel. However, in the Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv areas, as well as in southern Israel, the strike is expected to be nearly total.

Drivers have complained that management has not negotiated with them on a new contract in good faith, and has been intimidating younger drivers not to demand pay increases, threatening that if they do, they will be fired before they get tenure.

According to an Egged spokesperson, the strike “is completely unjustified and ignores the fact that Egged now has competition, and that in order to stay in business we must go through a cost-cutting process that will save the organization $27 million a year.”

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the January 26th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.