The Histadrut, rail workers, Israel Railways and the Transportation Ministry reached today (Monday) an agreement at the Tel Aviv Labor Court to put off a rail strike by two weeks in order to allow for more negotiations between the sides. A controversial outsourcing deal signed by Israel Railways Sunday will also be delayed during the talks.
The court discussed the deal signed by Israel Railways on Sunday that would outsource the maintenance of more than 130 new train cars, despite fierce opposition from its workers’ union. Under Sunday’s deal, Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer of the train cars, will be responsible for the upkeep of 130 cars it has sold to the railways.
Against rail privatization (Zo Hederech CPI Weekly in Hebrew)
Railway workers, who were joined by Communist Party of Israel members, protested the deal outside the courthouse. The union, for its part, has launched a series of strikes to protest the deal with Bombardier and the rail privatization.
Earlier Sunday, the Histadrut labor federation petitioned the Tel Aviv District Labor Court, asking it to grant the railway employees permission to strike in the wake of Katz’s announcement on Thursday. The Histadrut says this is a blatant violation of the government’s commitment last week to reduce use of subcontracted workers. “We will continue the struggle against the introduction of contract workers with all available means,” the Histadrut said in a statement Monday morning. “We will not be deterred by the attempt force the workers’ hand with heavy-handed tactics.”
Related:
The Communist Party of Israel: We support striking rail workers struggle against privatization
