Brief airport strike comes to swift end
Finance Ministry and workers' union reach terms to allow flights to leave Israel again
Israeli Airports Authority workers ended a short surprise strike at Ben Gurion International Airport Sunday evening when they reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry over payments the authority would have to make to the state.
The strike began Sunday afternoon, and saw takeoffs and landings of flights delayed.
The strikers protested the Finance Ministry’s plan to raise the annual revenues the IAA paid to the state by some NIS 500 million ($135 million).
The Histadrut labor union federation chief Avi Nissenkorn was personally involved in the negotiations, according to Channel 2. With the end of the strike, the airport returned to its normal operations, but seven departing flights were still delayed, Walla reported.
The IAA workers’ union decided in a prior meeting not to disrupt travel during the Jewish holidays, which ended last month.
In September, Ben Gurion workers went on a three-hour strike in solidarity with striking postal service workers, delaying some 24 flights.