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May 4, 2009
new mehadrin bus issue in Ashdod
Ladaat.net is reporting that Ashdod is the front-line of a new "mehadrin bus" battle. Not the type of mehadrin fight we have become accustomed to with men in front and women in back of the bus, but a whole new issue.
Egged has decided to install in their buses in Ashdod special informational screens that will help the deaf passengers get necessary information. Egged has decided that the screens would not be used just for passing on info to passengers, but also to run advertising.
The local haredim are upset about the advertising, calling it secular coercion. They agree that the screens are a blessing in regards to the help provided to the deaf population, but the advertising, they claim, is completely unnecessary. There are screens used in buses in other cities with no advertising, and they say there is no need for it in Ashdod, and there is no need for the advertising revenue.
According to Ladaat, the haredi community has decided to boycott Egged in Ashdod and use the local "tender" services instead. As well, they will only use the taxi services when there is a sticker in the windshield saying the taxi is shomer shabbat and will charge no more than 4NIS per ride.
Consumer boycotts rarely work, but they have the right to do it. I am not sure why the advertising is "secular coercion - perhaps there are immodest images being displayed. It seems out of place for them to decide that Egged has no need for advertising revenue - how do they know how much it pulls in and how much Egged needs for whatever?
And lastly, to set the price for using taxis seems unfair and inappropriate. Perhaps it should depend on the distance being traveled. I would have thought that 4 NIS in Ashdod must be the normal price, but if it is being declared as part of the set of rules, that must not be the case, and they are trying to force the taxi drivers to lower their fares.
If the haredi consumer power gets them to lower their fares, more power to them! We all hate advertising and try to avoid it whenever possible (I know based on how few clicks the advertising on this site get.. :-) )
On the one hand it is simply consumer advocacy. On the other hand , I dislike it all the appearance of trying to take over and run things, especially in the name of religion, even though as consumers they have a right to make requests and see if their muscle flexing works.
If Egged does not cave, and the taxi drivers do not cave, then the local haredim will have to make a choice as they will see they do not have as much influence as they thought they did. If one or the other, or both, do cave, then it is simply consumer advocacy at its best/worst.
Egged has decided to install in their buses in Ashdod special informational screens that will help the deaf passengers get necessary information. Egged has decided that the screens would not be used just for passing on info to passengers, but also to run advertising.
The local haredim are upset about the advertising, calling it secular coercion. They agree that the screens are a blessing in regards to the help provided to the deaf population, but the advertising, they claim, is completely unnecessary. There are screens used in buses in other cities with no advertising, and they say there is no need for it in Ashdod, and there is no need for the advertising revenue.
According to Ladaat, the haredi community has decided to boycott Egged in Ashdod and use the local "tender" services instead. As well, they will only use the taxi services when there is a sticker in the windshield saying the taxi is shomer shabbat and will charge no more than 4NIS per ride.
Consumer boycotts rarely work, but they have the right to do it. I am not sure why the advertising is "secular coercion - perhaps there are immodest images being displayed. It seems out of place for them to decide that Egged has no need for advertising revenue - how do they know how much it pulls in and how much Egged needs for whatever?
And lastly, to set the price for using taxis seems unfair and inappropriate. Perhaps it should depend on the distance being traveled. I would have thought that 4 NIS in Ashdod must be the normal price, but if it is being declared as part of the set of rules, that must not be the case, and they are trying to force the taxi drivers to lower their fares.
If the haredi consumer power gets them to lower their fares, more power to them! We all hate advertising and try to avoid it whenever possible (I know based on how few clicks the advertising on this site get.. :-) )
On the one hand it is simply consumer advocacy. On the other hand , I dislike it all the appearance of trying to take over and run things, especially in the name of religion, even though as consumers they have a right to make requests and see if their muscle flexing works.
If Egged does not cave, and the taxi drivers do not cave, then the local haredim will have to make a choice as they will see they do not have as much influence as they thought they did. If one or the other, or both, do cave, then it is simply consumer advocacy at its best/worst.
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wow, can we start insisting that Bet Shemesh taxis only charge 4 sheks for a ride? That would be cool.
ReplyDeleteThen we could go to the supermarkets and demand that we never pay more than 10 sheks for a chicken, or 5 sheks for a bag of diapers.
it's just consumer power/ market forces right?
The display in the Egged buses has most likely been a way for them to get more funding from the ministry of transportation. So, I am not so sure that it is legitimate for them to use it for advertising.
ReplyDeleteI would guess that when they showed the system to the transportation ministry they showed it to them without the ads and then added the ads afterwards.
and if the secular community decided to boycott charedi businesses?
ReplyDeleteKT
Joel Rich
Joel - I thought haredim dont have businesses to boycott(i.e. they dont work)??? :-)
ReplyDeleteB"H
ReplyDeleteI think you're right.
They have a right to boycott, but such boycott's do not work very well in Israel.
I do think they have a point about the secular indoctrination.
It's one of the reasons why some of us in the Shomron don't want to send our kids into the army,...the indoctrination HQ.
I personally think it's not that bright to start a boycott on one business and then impose guidlines and tell another business how they should work, especially when it's the only competitor.
ReplyDeleteThey should just say "tough, you don't like our prices take Egged, hahahah!"
OK, maybe without the laugh at the end.
The secular are not as unified as the chareidim, and would have a hard time boycotting the chareidim.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what would be their rallying cry? What would the chareidi businesses need to fix in order to end the boycott? By the chareidim, its one request - chullul shabbos, or in this case, no secular advertising.
Note that the chareidim have not come out boycotting just to lower prices. (What they are doing with the cabs is merely to stop the cabs from RAISING prices since there is no alternative)
have the prices been 4 NIS all along and they just dont want them raised?
ReplyDeleteSuch a bycott is difficult, especially when the community is so dependant on public transportation. It is unlikely it will be successful. Egged and/or the cabs might agree, but if theoretically they stand their ground, I can see this boycott not working.
Also, what would be their rallying cry?
ReplyDelete=================
I won't post it but it's pretty obvious what it would be - no more $ to those who don't....
KT
Joel Rich
Local taxi service here in Ariel is 12NIS until 8 p.m. then it goes up to 15NIS.
ReplyDeleteI won't post it but it's pretty obvious what it would be - no more $ to those who don't....
ReplyDeleteOf course.... but what I am saying is do that many chilonim care that much? Isnt it "better" for them to save a buck?
The shefa ban was a huge hassle, and the only reason it succeeded (while it did - last year before pesach etc) is bc teh chareidim answer to a higher calling. Same with ELAL. How many chilonim would listen and take a hit of a few hundred bucks, just cuz some chareidi owns the company?
The 4 shekel sounds like the price of a local tender, like the ones they have floating around BS. When i moved here 5 years ago it was 4 shekel a ride. So that would make sense
ReplyDeleteof course you are right, but we all know the local tenders don't go everywhere, for example they dont go at all to RBS. That means they dont have the buying power because people are going to be forced to take buses anyway to places the tenders dont go. once they have to take buses anyway, they will take them other times as well.
ReplyDeleteIsnt it "better" for them to save a buck?
ReplyDelete=======================
purely rational economic man theory is long dead; long live behavioral economics (discovered by an israeli, of course)
KT
Joel Rich
hello friends,
ReplyDeleteI need some help getting to Ashdod and finding hotel in the area.
I am about to book for the transfer service at http://israel.airprt-shuttle.com
and for the accommodation in Ashdod at http://www.ashdodfestival.com - does any one book with one of them ??