Ben Gurion Airport staff to strike Friday night, Saturday
30,000 passengers on 200 flights will need to make other plans as union-management squabble shuts down terminal
Employees at Ben Gurion International Airport are set to strike Friday evening, shutting down the airport for 24 hours and forcing flights departing on Shabbat to be rescheduled.
Only emergency staff would be working over Friday night and Saturday, the union said in announcing the strike Thursday. Arrivals would take place as scheduled, Channel 10 reported.
The union strike would affect 30,000 passengers on 200 flights departing on Friday and Saturday over the course of Shabbat, when the strike will take place, the Walla news site reported.
The workers refuse to work in protest of a deadlock in negotiations between the union and management over limiting contract workers at the airport.
The ultra-Orthodox press praised the decision to time the strike to coincide with the Jewish Sabbath, which takes place between sundown Friday and nightfall Saturday, and during which labor is prohibited according to Jewish law.