Histadrut declared a labor dispute in the aviation industry: Airlines are seeking mass layoffs

If you were hoping to find a green country to spend your holidays in, you may want to make an alternative plan - and this time not because of the Corona restrictions: the Histadrut recently declared a labor dispute in the aviation industry, amid a severe employment crisis.
According to the Histadrut, the airlines, which have already laid off thousands of workers and laid off many workers, are now seeking further mass layoffs, and as a result the conflict has been declared.
The conflict is relevant to El Al employees, Arkia employees, Israir pilots, and employees of the Airports Authority. The Histadrut will be able to take organizational measures (ie sanctions and even a complete shutdown) within about two weeks.
The causes of the conflict, according to the Histadrut: the intention of Israeli airlines to act to lay off more workers, extend the sick leave period of many workers, and change the terms of employment of workers; fear of harming workers' training or licenses; fear of closing departments And failure to take steps on the part of airline management to find economic solutions to save the companies.
The corona plague has affected various economic areas in the Israeli labor market since March 2020. The aviation industry suffered a particularly fatal blow, in view of the restrictions and prohibitions imposed on aviation, immediately after the plague broke out. Even today, about a year and a half after the outbreak of the plague, the aviation industry has not yet returned to the scope of normal and regular commercial activity, a significant portion of its employees are still in the IDF, and thousands of other workers have been laid off.
Throughout the crisis, the Histadrut and the Histadrut's Transport Workers' Union worked in a variety of ways to produce professional and creative solutions for every company in the industry, in an attempt to preserve the livelihoods of thousands of workers.
Among other things, by signing agreements that included terminating the employment of employees, and far-reaching changes in the terms of wages and employment of employees in the various companies. But it seems that now the companies are looking to lay off many more employees.
Additional problems arise from the crisis, for example, the significant share of employees employed in the aviation industry are employees who are committed to training, job refreshments and exams on a regular basis.
Examples: pilots, flight service managers, flight attendants, engineers, electricians, mechanics and aircraft towers. During the duration of the sick leave period, there is a possibility of impairing the ability and competence of any of these employees, and this issue has not yet received a satisfactory answer. Another concern is the closure of departments or the outsourcing of various jobs.
The chairman of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, said: "I deal with the crisis of the workers in the aviation industry from morning to night. Unfortunately, it seems that there are those who do not recognize the importance of this industry, not only for employment and the Israeli economy, but for the State of Israel in many other aspects.

The Histadrut mobilized to save and rehabilitate the aviation industry, with the outbreak of the crisis, through unprecedented recovery and efficiency agreements we signed with the companies and financial assistance that we transferred to them. But this does not mean that this gives way to mass layoffs and violations of workers' rights, every Monday and Thursday, as a quick and easy solution for companies. We will not allow that. "
The chairman of the Histadrut's Transportation Workers' Union, Avi Edri, said: "We have tried to avoid exacerbating the struggle in the aviation industry, but we can not remain indifferent in light of the difficult messages we received from airline managements regarding the employment and economic security of workers in the various aviation industries.
We expected and we still expect the Israeli government to intervene in the crisis and stabilize the airlines, as other countries in the world have done. At the national level, we do not have the privilege of being without Israeli airlines. "