El Al Strike Settlement Collapses

The tentative agreement reached Sunday night between El Al Airlines and its pilots apparently fell through at a meeting held to finalize terms on Monday.

At that meeting, negotiations reportedly broke down as the pilots walked out, claiming that management had reneged on its commitments worked out during a 13-hour session on Sunday. The negotiations resumed Monday afternoon, but no word of progress has been heard.

The unsigned agreement reportedly included a 7.35 percent annual salary increase for pilots, and the cessation of using charters when an El Al flight is in danger of cancelation.

The pilots promised to stop flight-splitting (flying one way while returning in business class) and will cut overnight stays from 44 to 27 hours before flying the return leg.

Avi Edri, chairman of the National Transportation Workers Union, confirmed these conditions to The Jerusalem Post. Edri added that “there are disagreements on wording” and “talks between the parties continue.”

El Al, however, was non-committal, saying only that “we will only comment once we have a signed legal agreement.”