Drivers of the Kavim bus company have been disrupting bus traffic since this morning in protest over their employment conditions and due to what they call pressure exerted by management following the drivers' unionization.
The workers' committee decided to disrupt bus traffic in all four of the company's clusters, especially in the Ramla, Lod Petah Tikva and Ono Valley areas. The disruptions are expected to continue until 2:00 PM tomorrow. The workers' committee is particularly strong in the Ramla-Lod activity cluster, and most of the disruptions are expected in this cluster. In Modi'in Elite and Modi'in, the disruptions lasted until 10 AM. Hundreds of people are waiting at the bus stops.
The company's drivers are protesting, among other things, the lack of progress in negotiations with management over their employment terms, including management's refusal to give employees a pay raise, long working hours (an average of 13 hours a day, they claim), a split workday without compensation, and they are not receiving an adequate pension.
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About two weeks ago, the drivers held other strikes, in which they did not collect money from some passengers, but this time the passengers are feeling a significant impact on bus operations.
The Kavim company responded: "Kavim protests that while negotiations are being conducted in good faith by the company's management, a handful of drivers from a single regional cluster, not chosen by the company's employees and not supported by all the company's drivers, choose to take unnecessary, unilateral and bullying actions to shut down an essential service in the State of Israel. This is during the peak demand hours of Sunday morning and close to Shavuot. Kavim drivers receive a base salary that is among the highest in public transportation in Israel, and the company's employment conditions are in accordance with the law. The company rejects in every way the committee's attempt to paint a false picture as if this is not the case and that is the reason for the actions taken by it. We call on the workers' committee to continue negotiations between the parties without unilateral steps at the expense of the public.
