The two-day Egged Ta'avurah strike Sunday and Monday has left tens of thousands of people stranded, from Jewish residents of Judea-Samaria looking to travel to Jerusalem for work to residents of Ashdod left scrambling both within and without of their city.
Due to the chaos, MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) has filed a bill Sunday limiting the ability for public transport workers to strike.
"The law would restrict the abuse of strikes in essential services like public transport," Eichler stated. "The haredi public depends on public transport more than any other sector and and will not agree to be a victim of the conflict between bus drivers and financial management."
Egged Ta'avurah lines currently on strike include:
- Intracity lines within: the Netanya area, the Ashdod area, the Ashkelon area, the Elad area, the Shfirim area, and the northern Negev;
- Service from Ashkelon to Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon to Kiryat Gat, and Ashkelon to Ofakim;
- Service between Jerusalem and Mevaseret, Jerusalem and Givat Ze'ev, Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, Jerusalem and the Binyamin region of Samaria, Jerusalem and the remainder of Samaria, Modi'in and the Binyamin region, and the "fast lines" from Modi'in to Jerusalem - lines 100, 101, 102; and
- Internal lines within Samaria.
The bus company, which is separate from main transport company Egged, has staged strikes or threatened to stage strikes multiple times over the past year, citing poor working conditions.
The current strike is due to an impasse between the employees' union and company management over wages.
