Tel Aviv Labor Court Judge Dafna Hasson-Zakaria decided to issue a restraining order ordering the Arkia workers ‘pilots’ committee to take part in six cargo flights scheduled to take off for Seoul in South Korea, starting today at 5:00 PM until Saturday, January 22, 2015, in order to Bring to the country kits of corona (antigen) tests.
According to Arkia, its pilots are taking sanctions, despite the existence of a clause of industrial silence, and in the absence of a declaration of a labor dispute. According to Arkia, this operation is compatible with the Ministry of Health, while Arkia undertook to meet deadlines agreed with the ministry. The pilots refused to join these flights, and the chairman of the committee conditioned the pilots ‘consent to join the flights in order to improve the pilots’ conditions.
The pilots: These are not sanctions
According to the pilots, they are not taking sanctions, but Arkia’s demand to be included in the flights exceeds their obligation under the collective agreements, and therefore there is no room for issuance of restraining orders.
The pilots ‘committee and the Arkia workers’ committee argued in court that the pilots did not take sanctions, and that as much as it was up to the pilots, block times were shortened. It was further alleged that the pilots showed a willingness to get stuck on unplanned flights and even agreed to get stuck last Saturday for cargo flights to bring antigen tests, but a question was eventually canceled by the company.
In addition, the committees argued, the pilots ‘refusal not to join the cargo flights does not constitute sanctions, since the requirement to join these flights exceeds the pilots’ obligation under the collective agreements applicable to the parties.
The pilots stressed that, as a rule, Arkia does not conduct cargo flights, and usually does not require as many flight hours and such a long stay away from home, as is required to meet the antigen testing operation.
They further reiterated that in accordance with the FTL agreement, pilots may refuse to take flight without justifying their refusal. In any case, it was argued, the pilots’ refusal to join the flights is not a coordinated collective action but a refusal at the individual level. For example, there is a pilot with a child with a serious illness who can not leave him alone for a long time; Another pilot is a father of isolated children; Another pilot prescribed a vaccine for a queue for children and asked in advance not to fly at the relevant times; Another pilot has sick children in Corona; There is an unlicensed pilot on the simulator; And another pilot must stay at his home on Thursday due to personal circumstances.
The Histadrut also claimed that these were not sanctions, since the requirement to stay on these flights, which involves a long stay outside the home, exceeds the pilots’ obligation by virtue of the collective agreements applicable to the parties. The collective agreement does not provide additional compensation for the additional work required of them to perform the additional flights. In any case, it was argued, management had a duty to talk to employees, and not to instruct them to embark on flights in one-sided SMS messages.
The Tribunal: Coordinated Collective Action
The Labor Court ruled that this was not a refusal of individuals at the individual level, but rather a coordinated collective action, against the background of the respondents ‘organizational demand to move to the second period and sign the pilots’ agreement.
According to the tribunal, “this coordinated collective action is taken unlawfully, since it is done during a period of commitment to industrial silence and the extraction of claims, and since it has not been lawfully approved by the representative workers’ organization, which is only authorized to declare a labor and strike dispute.”
The tribunal referred to the fact that Arkia’s requirement to switch to cargo flights is unusual, and this fact has not even been denied by Arkia. “In addition, we accept the Histadrut’s claim that in these circumstances the applicant should have had to negotiate with the respondents and offer them an appropriate remuneration,” but the court later ruled that “in view of the temporary order, while Arkia pilots are required to cooperate with the company to bring tests “Antigen needed to maintain public health and continue the normal operation of the economy, at the height of the current corona wave in which the State of Israel is now, the respondents were expected to cooperate with the company, and not use this time to achieve economic achievements on the kibbutz level.”
Judge Hasson-Zakaria wrote that “in such circumstances, a decision to work ‘according to the book’ constitutes sanctions.” It was further stated that “in the circumstances of the case, even a mere refusal to join the flights, not against the background of such and other economic demands, only ‘because he did not come to the pilots’, also exceeds the duty of good faith imposed on the parties to collective labor relations. Which may be caused by the refusal to join the flights. “
Arkia was represented by attorneys Orly Aviram and Barak Givoni from Feinberg & Co.