Stupid, stupid, stupid
Really, as much as I try to convince people that I don't live in a backwards country, it gets tiring trying to convince myself of that very same thing sometimes.
Our national union is going on strike... again. This is the THIRD such strike in nine months.
When this kind of strike happens, we're without public services -- including garbage collection, government offices, mail, trains, border control (there's still security, but no way to get in or out of the country), the airport, some of the national health services, the ports, etc.
Last November, I was stranded in the Frankfurt airport for 15 hours without food, because of this kind of strike. It would have been another 12-24 hours, except that my flight was allowed to come back because of humanitarian reasons -- an Israeli girl had been in a horrible car accident in Germany, and she was being flown back to Israel for treatment. I just happened to be on that flight.
Now, it's the busiest tourist time of the year. So we're going to leave people stranded all over the world, including sitting on airport floors, because the Histadrut has decided *this* is the time to fight (again) for more money.
Don't get me wrong -- I am all about having the protection of unions. But not at the expense of the public.
As it is, government offices and post offices are only open to the public about 20-25 hours/week. Same with banks. For any normal person to be able to go to those, the person has to take a day off of work. No late hours... no Fridays... it really stinks.
The union is asking for a 10% wage hike. The government has offered 1%. Both of those are completely unreasonable.
I hope they can come to an agreement fast... it's hot in July. Too much time without garbage disposal will get ugly.
Our national union is going on strike... again. This is the THIRD such strike in nine months.
When this kind of strike happens, we're without public services -- including garbage collection, government offices, mail, trains, border control (there's still security, but no way to get in or out of the country), the airport, some of the national health services, the ports, etc.
Last November, I was stranded in the Frankfurt airport for 15 hours without food, because of this kind of strike. It would have been another 12-24 hours, except that my flight was allowed to come back because of humanitarian reasons -- an Israeli girl had been in a horrible car accident in Germany, and she was being flown back to Israel for treatment. I just happened to be on that flight.
Now, it's the busiest tourist time of the year. So we're going to leave people stranded all over the world, including sitting on airport floors, because the Histadrut has decided *this* is the time to fight (again) for more money.
Don't get me wrong -- I am all about having the protection of unions. But not at the expense of the public.
As it is, government offices and post offices are only open to the public about 20-25 hours/week. Same with banks. For any normal person to be able to go to those, the person has to take a day off of work. No late hours... no Fridays... it really stinks.
The union is asking for a 10% wage hike. The government has offered 1%. Both of those are completely unreasonable.
I hope they can come to an agreement fast... it's hot in July. Too much time without garbage disposal will get ugly.
posted by M at 07:39
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