NGO: El Al prevents flight attendants from voting

Movement for Quality Government complains to Election Panel that Israeli El Al workers were given shifts on Election Day.

By LAHAV HARKOV
El Al plane (photo credit: Courtesy)
El Al plane
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Many El Al flight attendants will not be able to exercise their right to vote, according to a complaint the Movement for Quality Government submitted to the Central Elections Committee on Thursday.
Some flight attendants will leave the country before the polls open on January 22 and return the next day.
The Movement for Quality Government wrote that some of the flight attendants asked not to work that day, but were rebuffed.
“It seems that because of work shifts, these flight attendants will not be able to realize their democratic right to vote in the Knesset,” the complaint reads.
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Article 10 of Basic Law: The Knesset says that Election Day should be a vacation day, except for public services such as transportation.
However, workers providing those services must be allowed the possibility of voting.
“As such, even if El Al and other airlines work as usual on Election Day, they must allow their workers to exercise their right,” the Movement for Quality Government wrote. “Giving Israeli flight attendants who want to vote shifts on Election Day that will not allow them to do so is against the law.”
The Central Elections Committee did not respond to the complaint on Thursday.