The workers' committee of the Israel NatureProtection and National Parks Authority announced today that it plans to strike specifically during the Passover holiday – a time when so many families want to travel to nature sites.
The strike, says the committee, will take place on the 16th and 17th of Nissan – Wednesday and Thursday, and will include all Nature and Parks Authority sites. The workers' committee also announced that the strike may continue for more days.
A letter sent to the workers said that “all the sites and first aid huts will be closed, phones and emails should not be answered, meetings should not take place and that the whole supervision system will strike, except for those who receive special permission from the Histadrut workers union to work during the strike on urgent matters only.”
And why are they striking? The committee explained that “negotiations with the management, which went on for a long time without results have halted.” They also enumerated various issues they believe need correction.
The Israel Nature Protection and National Parks Authority officially announced its response saying it would appeal to the Labor Court as soon as possible to “spare the public anguish and allow it to visit nature and heritage sites in Israel.”
In an official response, the management said: “We reached agreements with the workers' committee and the strike announcement came in the midst of a discussion. The committee's use of workers as a pawn and holding the vacationing public hostage destroys labor relations in the Parks Authority.”