The Tel Aviv district labor court Issued a temporary injunction today barring El Al from obeying government orders to suspend service on the Sabbath and religious holidays. The injunction was requested by Histadrut, acting on behalf of El Al employes who contended that the air line would sustain severe losses if it were to comply with the government’s order, resulting in hardship for its work force.
The government ordered the suspension at the demand of the Agudat Israel party, a partner in Premier Menachem Begin’s coalition. Begin himself supports the ban which he promised the Aguda he would enforce as part of their agreement to join his government last year.
Two MKs of Likud’s Liberal Party wing, Dror Zeigerman and Don Tikhon, said last night that they would oppose the Sabbath suspension of El Al flights. Their defection could spell defeat for the ban when the Knesset votes on the issue. Zeigerman and Tikhon, who visited El Al’s installations at the Ben Gurion Airport, also said an airline computer print out showed that less than one percentof El Al passengers asked for the “glatt kosher” box lunches requested by Agudat Israel members. The Aguda has threatened to order its members to boycott Israel’s national air carrier if the Sabbath flights are not suspended.
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