IBA program schedules return to normal as sanctions lifted

During the sanctions, news and talk-show anchors from Israel Radio and Channel One could not take telephone calls on air.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
IBA 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
IBA 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Following over a month of sanctions by technicians at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, an accommodation was reached late Wednesday morning between management and workers’ representatives.
During the sanctions, news and talk-show anchors from Israel Radio and Channel One could not take telephone calls on air, nor were there any satellite telecasts on Channel One.
Yaron Dekel, who hosts It’s all Talk on Reshet Bet, announced the cessation of sanctions at the tail end of his program a little over quarter of an hour before noon.
There was no announcement on the midday news about the cessation of sanctions, but an hour after Dekel’s announcement there was a press release stating that in view of the decision by the Executive Board, management was suspending cutbacks. Program editors who had been removed from their posts were asked to return and the program schedules were restored to what they had been before the sanctions went into effect.
In other developments at the IBA, the Executive Board on Tuesday discussed the IBA budget and decided to take emergency measures to reduce the gap between income and expenditure.
However, with regard to issues related to the long overdue IBA reformswhich have been held up for years due to unresolved disputes betweenmanagement and staff, the Board gave management permission to beflexible, in the hope that this would finally get the reforms on track.This was in response to a report that workers had expressed theirwillingness in advance of the resumption of negotiations to take paycuts for a two month period. The resumption of negotiations has beentabled for Sunday, March 21.
Management expressed the hope that a summit meeting next week withHistadrut chairman Ofer Eini would enable progress toward the reforms.