"Ofer Eini and I have good relations," Minister of Transport Israel Katz told “IDF Radio" (Galei Zahal) today. "But Eini erred on the matter of last week's railways strike. This is not the same issue as the contract workers. I call on the Histadrut chairman: don't let the workers committee strike."
Katz was responding to the renewed threats of a strike by the Israel Railways workers committee, headed by Gila Edri, after the Railways management last night unilaterally outsourced rolling stock maintenance.
"Rolling stock maintenance is a safety flaw, and negotiations on the matter lasted for a year and a half. This matter must be urgently settled," said Katz. "After the Histadrut and the workers committee made it clear that they were not interested in negotiations, I ordered management to sign the agreement."
Yesterday, the Railways management signed the outsourcing agreement with Canada's Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD).
Katz said, "This is only part of the struggle at Israel Railways. We must ensure that there is good passenger service, and we're going to double the railways' operations over the coming years."
As for the shutting down Israel Railways if its workers committee launches another strike, Katz said, "I don’t want to shut the railways; that's not the objective. But if a string of strikes begins, we won't hesitate to shut it down and reopen it. This workers committee wants to prevent the company from developing, and from fulfilling its duty, in order to play the boss, and I will not lend my hand to this."
In response to the Israel Railways-Bombardier agreement, Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini told “IDF Radio", "This was a hasty and unnecessary step at a time when I proposed to Katz to hold negotiations without preconditions. It's impossible to talk when Katz determines the results in advance. This will not help Israel Railways."
Eini added, "Regrettably, I think that Transport Minister Katz has harmed Israel Railways and the public. I believe that this is populist intervention because of media pressure."
In response to Katz's threat to shut down Israel Railways, Eini said, "The transport minister cannot shut down Israel Railways. I don’t believe in this idea that it's possible to simply shut everything down. All the parties should calm down and work things out. The Railways management, the transport minister, and the workers committee should also show responsibility.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2012
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