Itongadol.- The Finance Ministry and El Al reached an agreement Monday evening over the airline\’s security costs, acknowledging that Israeli airlines work under special conditions and "will be treated accordingly" as a result.
The agreement, that has brought an end to a strike by Israeli air carriers already in its second day, was reached in meetings between El Al and Finance Ministry staff.
"Now there is nothing preventing flights returning to operate and bring an immediate end to the strike," Finance Minister Yair Lapid said.
The ministry announced the deal an hour and a half before the National Labor Court was set to rule on whether the strike, and the Histadrut’s order to shut down the airport starting on Tuesday at 5:00 a.m., could move forward. The Manufacturer’s Association of Israel had issued an injunction to end the strike at the National Labor Court late Sunday night.
“The court must issue an order to employees not to disrupt work and to stop this strike immediately. The strike severely disrupts industry, which is reliant on export and import,” the Association said.
In its own filing on the matter, the Histadrut excoriated the government’s decision to pass the Open Skies Agreement, saying it did not properly discuss the matter and that it would lead to the collapse of Israel’s airline industry.
“The Histadrut regrets the discomfort caused to the plaintiff, as well as, primarily, the Israeli public and the foreign tourists. However, this is a war of existence, a war of necessity," the union said.
During the strike, the Histadrut’s exceptions committee approved two El Al flights for humanitarian reasons Monday, one from Paris carrying the bodies of a rabbi and the president of the deaf association for burial in Israel, and another from Berlin carrying employees of a pharmaceutical company so they could return to work manufacturing medication. On Sunday, it also approved three flights for similar extenuating circumstances.
Earlier on Monday, Lapid slammed the strike, saying it was “unnecessary from the beginning and it is still necessary now.”
“Open Skies are a done deal. This is a good and appropriate agreement for the citizens of Israel, Israel’s economy and Israel’s tourism,” he said, adding, “the agreement will liberalize the aviation market in Israel, introducing more competition over the course of five years.”
El Al’s Eliezer Shakedi said the company respected the Israeli government and its decision to pass the agreement, but was asking it to immediately deal with issues that “will allow fair and equal competition, chief among them the state’s full participation in the security expenditures of Israeli airlines.”
Lapid acknowledged that Israeli airlines face unique problems, particularly in paying for security, and ordered the Finance Ministry staff to search for solutions.
In a reference to Lapid\’s fictional archetype of a middle class Israeli woman, MK Eitan Cabel said, "It is important for Ricki Cohen from Hadera to be able to fly cheaply for a vacation abroad, but it\’s more important that Yossi Cohen, the El Al porter, will have a job tomorrow." While competition is important, he continued, the Israeli should engage the airlines in meaningful dialogue. "It is absolutely unacceptable that the workers will be the ones that pay the price, even if the idea surrounding the reform is justified," he said.
He also noted that the battle was the opening shot in the budget battle, in which the Histadrut has already opposed attempts to cut wages in collective agreements.
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