As thousands of soldiers and other commuters were preparing to board trains home for the weekend on April 12, the Israel Railways Corporation suspended all services. According to management, the decision was prompted by a sudden “sick out” by eight of 21 safety controllers responsible for preventing collisions. Management claimed that when it tried to call other controllers to replace them, no one answered.
Service resumed two hours later. The head of the workers union, Gila Edrei, denied management claims that she had instigated the event, accusing the management of halting service to fuel public anger against the union. She even threatened a libel suit against the management, which in turn demanded that the Histadrut Labor Federation punish the rail workers union.
