El Al, Israel’s national airline, was embroiled in a labor dispute today after a prolonged period of relative calm on the labor front. Employes announced a general strike, the immediate effect of which was to force cancellation of an evening flight for London.
The action came as a surprise. The workers had agreed only this morning to call off a “rule book” slowdown which had been underway for several days to protest the airline management’s alleged failure to put the carrier’s troubled finances in order. A spokesman for the employes said they had achieved their aim of calling the government’s attention to the situation.
Only hours later, however, the union called a meeting of all workers committees after learning that management intended to dismiss 18 flight engineers as of January I because new aircraft entering service made them redundant. The general strike was called without ratification by Histadrut. The trade union federation is trying to negotiate a settlement with respect to personnel made redundant by the introduction of new equipment.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
