Histadrut Declares Labor Dispute at Dan Bus Company to Safeguard Equal Pay and Workers Rights

The Histadrut’s Transport Workers Union has declared a formal labor dispute covering 2,300 drivers at Dan Public Transportation, challenging unilateral management moves that threaten two-tier employment and basic due process.

The Histadrut declared a comprehensive labor dispute across the Dan bus company today, moving to protect 2,300 transit operators against management actions that undermine existing collective agreements. At the center of the dispute is management’s drive to absorb hundreds of agency-contracted drivers under inferior wage tracks without union negotiation, alongside severe, unilateral disciplinary sanctions imposed on operating personnel.

Halting Two-Tier Exploitation and Defending Workplace Parity

Dan management is pushing forward an absorption process for outsourced drivers that bypasses the workers’ council and contravenes existing collective bargaining pacts. Rather than integrating these workers into Dan under the collective agreement, company leadership seeks to place new employees on lower wages, forcing personnel performing identical routes and duties into unequal compensation .

Management has repeatedly refused to disclose full details of these contracts while continuing their unilateral implementation. This divided structure directly attacks the bedrock union principle of equal pay for equal work .

“Regrettably, we are compelled to take firm measures in order to halt management’s unilateral actions. We cannot allow harm to workers or the creation of different classes within the company. we simply cannot accept this. We call on Dan’s management to come to its senses and engage in genuine dialogue before organized action becomes necessary.”

— Uri Matuki, Director of the Public Transportation Division, Histadrut Transport Workers Union

Beyond contract disparities, the dispute targets management’s foot-dragging in negotiations over workplace discipline and its reliance on disproportionate penalization. The company recently attempted to impose blanket penalties, including dockings equivalent to 40 hours of pay for procedural infractions – levied without fair hearings or agreed grievance mechanisms.

Under Israeli labor law, declaring a labor dispute initiates a mandatory 14-day cooling-off period, after which the Histadrut and Dan’s workers may launch targeted industrial action up to and including a full strike if management refuses good-faith bargaining.

The struggle at Dan reflects a pervasive crisis confronting public transit workforces worldwide: the erosion of stable collective bargaining frameworks through subcontracting, artificial wage tiers, and authoritarian management practices. When public transport operators cut labor costs by segmenting workers performing identical labor, they destabilize essential services and degrade job quality.

The Histadrut stands committed to halting the normalization of two-tier labor systems, defending fair disciplinary due process, and upholding collective bargaining as the sole legitimate instrument for setting employment terms across essential public services.