Israel's Histadrut declares labor dispute with airlines

The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) has declared a labor dispute in the aviation industry. The background to the dispute is the intention of the airlines, which have already laid off thousands of workers and put many on unpaid leave, to carry out further mass layoffs.

The dispute applies to workers at El Al and Arkia, to pilots at Israir, and to employees of the Israel Airports Authority. The declaration means that the Histadrut can institute sanctions within two weeks, which will mean disruption to flights.

Israeli airlines have fallen into a severe crisis because of the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and have asked the government to compensate them, arguing that the damage that they are sustaining is caused by the imposition of the severe restrictions on air travel currently in force. In order to achieve efficiencies, which the Ministry of Finance is also demanding, they plan to lay off more employees, to extend the period of unpaid leave for many other employees, and to change workers' employment terms.

The Histadrut says that it is concerned that workers' training and licenses will be harmed, that at some airlines whole departments will be closed and the work will be outsourced, and that the managements of the airlines have failed to take steps to find business solutions to save the companies.