Israel’s National Labor Court issued an injunction against striking railway workers union Tuesday, ordering them to return to work by 9 A.M, after trains operations ceased the night before.

The Israel Railways union announced a strike Monday evening, freezing the country’s national train service only one day after a nationwide general strike came to an end.

The union has been locked in a bitter dispute with the company management over the latter’s intention to privatize certain services in the industry. As part of their struggle, the workers have been refusing to put into service four new engines that were bought from Spain, citing safety concerns. In addition, the workers are protesting the appointment of a new station chief in the city of Yavneh, south of Tel Aviv, saying he was appointed without the union’s approval.

“The management is leaving maintenance work to those same companies that are responsible for all of the trains’ malfunctions over the last two years,” the railway employees board said in a statement. “It is continuing to refuse to hold negotiations with the employees board and is perpetuating the miserable economic conditions of hundreds of rail employees who have to receive welfare payments due to their low salaries.”

Gila Edrey, who heads of the employee union, said, “We can’t allow Israel Railways to turn into a bastion of contract work. We have no choice – we have to strike – but it is due to the obtuseness and negligence of the management. We’re sorry for the inconvenience suffered by the public, and hope the management comes to understand that its workers are unwilling to let their rights be trampled in the name of monetary gain.” The strike comes just days after a nationwide general strike of Israel’s public sector was called off, following a bad agreement between the Finance Ministry and the Histadrut labor federation.