Airport workers union announces Sabbath strike at Ben-Gurion Airport

Workers upset at practice of hiring contract workers; some 30,000 passengers on 200 flights are expected to pass through the airport during the Sabbath.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Ben Gurion Airport (photo credit: REUTERS)
Ben Gurion Airport
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Ben-Gurion Airport employee union announced Thursday that it would be striking from the beginning of the Sabbath on Friday evening to the end of the Sabbath on Saturday evening in protest of the Airports Authority's refusal to directly employ workers in place of hiring them on a contract basis. Contract workers receive fewer benefits than directly employed workers.
The union decided to take organizational steps after negotiations to limit hiring of contract workers reached a dead end.
Union chairman Pinchas Edan said that "it cannot be that everyone is talking about getting rid of the phenomenon of contract workers and in the Airports Authority they are expanding the use of this exploitative practice."
The Airports Authority management called a special meeting to discuss the announcement by the union. Some 30,000 passengers on 200 flights are expected to pass through the airport during the Sabbath.