Bethel Finance:Railway workers petition court to strike again

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Israel Railways workers committee and the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) have petitioned the Tel Aviv District Labor court in an effort to delay the signing of the outsourcing agreement for the new coaches by the end of February.

Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini said, "The last thing we want to do is strike. The strike is not an end in itself, but a means to balance the relationship between employees and an employer in negotiations. At the end of the day, we must remind ourselves what the Railway workers are fighting for. They are fighting to prevent the introduction of contract workers into a regulated work place. I am calling on Minister Katz to return to the negotiating table with no preconditions, and to hold real, businesslike negotiations so that we can reach an agreement through dialogue."

In a statement, the Histadrut said that Katz's actions contradict agreements that were signed only a week ago with employers in the private sector, and with the Ministry of Finance over the public sector. "These agreements establish a principle that the Railway cannot hire contract workers in core jobs, and cannot employ full-time workers shoulder to shoulder. Minister Katz is now threatening to introduce contract workers into the Railways' garages."

On Thursday, Minister of Transport Israel Katz ordered that an agreement for the outsourcing of rolling stock maintenance work with Canada's Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD) be signed, with our without the agreement of the workers committee. The latter is demanding that the agreement be cancelled, and that they be allowed to continue to exclusively maintain the coaches.

In an interview last night on Channel 2's "Meet the Press," Katz said, "If the Railway workers committee holds another wildcat strike like the one we had on Tuesday, will be in breach of court orders, and will physically assault Israel Railways' board members, I am stating unequivocally that I will shut down the railway and I will build a new organization from scratch. I prefer to temporarily close the railway despite the fact that it will cause temporary discomfort for passengers, and to build a new organization so that we will be able to provide our passengers with the highest level of service possible."

Katz also strongly attacked Railway workers committee chairwoman Gila Edri, who is being charged with contempt of court and was fined NIS 10,000. "It is not the role of the workers committee chairwoman to be responsible for the railway. That is the management's role," Katz said. "The role of the workers committee chairwoman is to take care of its workers. What Edri is doing is seriously harming our organization."

Katz also responded to workers' claims that once an agreement to transfer maintenance of coaches to Bombardier, which manufactures the coaches, is signed, many employees will be fired. "We are not privatizing anything, and the workers' claims are simply incorrect," Katz said. "The opposite is true. We will hire more workers since we are undergoing tremendous development, and we will not fire employees even in another 20 years."