(haipo) – The Union of Transportation Committees for Labor Force declared a strike on public transportation on Tuesday, 29/7/25, throughout the country, including the metro lines in Haifa and Kiryat.
The Union of Transportation Committees for Workers was told:
The Union of Transportation Workers' Committees will forcefully shut down the operations of the companies it is affiliated with.
"We are putting an end to driver discrimination - without a framework that guarantees that public transportation workers will receive the same compensation as public sector workers - public transportation will stop"
Among the cities that will be covered: many lines in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, the metro lines in Haifa, Afula, Tiberias, Migdal HaEmek, Yokneam, Sderot and more…
The Union of Transportation Committees for Workers' Power announced its intention to shut down the Superbus companies, "Electra Afikim Transportation 2021" and "Dan Badram" on Tuesday, July 29, 7, from the start of service until 25:9 a.m. (local time in the cities being shut down). The union is protesting the companies' refusal to compensate employees for lost work days during Operation "With a Dog." Currently, employees are required to pay their salaries out of pocket - by redeeming vacation days.
About a month ago, the union declared a labor dispute in response to the damage to workers' wages during the war. Last week, the union participated in a mediation meeting with the companies before the regional labor relations commissioner, in which a representative of the Ministry of Transportation was also supposed to participate and present the main points of a compensation plan for public transportation for the war. Near the beginning of the mediation, the Ministry of Transportation unexpectedly canceled its participation. All the companies announced that the compensation plan did not allow for the payment of workers' wages as demanded by the union.
Yesterday (Sunday, July 20.7.25, 28.7), the Knesset's Economics Committee held a discussion on the issue of compensation for TAC employees. The Transportation and Finance Ministries also attended this discussion without any news for the employees. Committee Chairman MK David Bitan, as well as MK Naama Lazimi, called on representatives of the Finance and Transportation Ministries to formulate within a week a plan for paying TAC employees' wages, based on the public sector plan. The Transportation Committees Union clarifies that unless a new plan and compensation for employees are formulated accordingly by the companies by next Monday (July XNUMX), the strike will go into effect.
Micha Vaknin, chairman of the Superbus workers' committee and chairman of the assembly of representatives for workers: "Public transportation is a public service. During the war, we are defined as an essential service and the workers went to work under fire, transporting passengers and soldiers to where they needed to be. We accept full responsibility for serving the public. But when it comes to wages during the war, we are no longer treated like public sector workers. They think we are the punching bag of the public and the government. How is it possible that at the end of the month, drivers only receive 15% of their salary? We demand that the outline that the Treasury set for public sector workers also apply to us. We thank the chairman of the economy committee Bitan, who stood by us and demanded the outline, and MK Lazimi for his consistent support. But we have reached the point where we are no longer paid - without the same compensation as the public sector - we are on strike."
Tamar Ohana, head of the Transportation Force for Workers branch: "It is sad to discover that every time, the Transportation Force for Workers union and committees are required to fight for basic rights. This happened with the demand for salary updates in 2018 and 2022. This happened with the defense of workers' rights during the coronavirus pandemic and at the beginning of the "Iron Swords". We call on companies and the Minister of Transportation to come to their senses! Just as the Ministry of Transportation ensures compensation for public transportation passengers for the period of the war in Iran, so it is certainly its duty to ensure full wages for public transportation workers for the period of the war, because without them there would be no public transportation in the country."
Cities participating in the strike: Superbus and Electra Afikim 21 lines in Jerusalem, settlements of the Mateh Binyamin Council, Ma'ale Adumim, settlements of Gush Etzion, Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim, settlements of the Gaza Strip, Afula, Tiberias, Yokneam, Migdal HaEmek, Metro lines in Haifa and Kiryat, Beit Shean, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malachi, Ashdod-Jerusalem lines, intercity lines in the B.S.
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