Egged bus company calls off nationwide strike

Management and workers agree on minimum hourly wage in last-ditch talks

By ToI Staff 18 January 2016, 9:16 am Edit

Illustrative: Passengers boarding an Egged bus in Jerusalem. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Workers at the Egged bus company called off at the last minute a countrywide strike that was due to start Monday, after agreeing with the company’s management on a minimum NIS 39-per-hour ($9.9) wage deal.

Avi Nissenkorn, chairman of the Histadrut national labor union, said Egged drivers deserved a pay raise and a stronger status.

The minimum hourly wage in Israel is NIS 25 ($6.33).

Egged workers announced their strike plans Thursday after wage talks collapsed. They said the company’s drivers, earning NIS 32-33 (up to $8.30) per hour, stood to become the lowest hourly-paid workers among all public transport sector drivers.

The chairman of the transport workers’ union, Avi Edri, said Thursday that the low pay rate for Egged drivers was unacceptable for such a veteran organization.

“It is unthinkable that a company that has existed since the establishment of the state pays the lowest hourly rate in public transport, while unilaterally lowering the workers’ wages,” he said. “It is our intention to act with all of the means at our disposal to protect the wages, dignity, and status of Egged workers.”

Taking part in the talks were Transport Ministry head Uzi Yitzhaki, Avi Edri of the transport workers’ union and the Finance Ministry’s deputy budget director Udi Adiri.