The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) has declared a labor dispute at Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., a subsidiary of Ganden Investments Ltd., controlled by Nochi Dankner.
Israir flight attendants turned to the Histadrut, claiming deterioration in their working conditions. The Histadrut says that it declared the labor dispute after Israir's management refused to hold negotiations with it on a collective agreement for the airline's flight attendants.
Israir flight attendants claim that their salaries are very low and that they are forced to sleep on planes' floors during long flights. They also claim that the airline uses especially cheap hotels for lay-overs in dangerous areas in foreign destinations, jeopardizing them.
Histadrut transport union chairman Avi Edery told "Globes" today, "We discovered that the case did not only involve derisory pay, but also deplorable working conditions. For the past two years, flight attendants have asked for someone in management to speak to them, but that only happened after they contacted the Histadrut. We're talking about a great group of people, all of whom are students, who simply don’t know their rights. I don’t understand how anyone could employ people under these conditions."
Edery said that unless Israir management held negotiations with the Histadrut in the next two weeks, the airline's employees would take industrial action as permitted by law. He added, "If there's no choice, we'll go on strike, and stop flights."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 18, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007