The confrontation between the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) workers committee and CEO Amos Lasker has resumed. At yesterday's management meeting, Lasker announced a series of unilateral measures for the implementation of the company's Compass plan. These include consolidation of the Haifa and Northern Districts, the incorporation of the company's four power plants as a structure of four regional power plants, and the establishment of a national maintenance unit into which several of the company's workshops will be merged.
These are the most important parts of the IEC restructuring plan, and the announcement indicates that Laskov is this time determined to move forward on it. He also ordered the transfer of IEC's computer and information systems division to the logistics division.
In response to Lasker's measures, the IEC national workers committee convened to discuss renewing labor sanctions. As of web-posting no decisions have yet been taken at the stormy and prolonged meeting. However, a senior workers committee official declared, "The CEO has crossed every red line. The sanctions last time were child's play compared with what management can expect unless it retracts its unilateral measures."
The decision by IEC management to consolidate the Haifa and Northern Districts took the workers committee by total surprise. The national workers committee believes that this is an attempt to instigate friction between the workers committees of the Northern District, which is considered more militant, and the Southern District, which is considered more conciliatory. IEC national workers committee chairman Miko Zarfati came from the Southern Division.
A senior workers committee official said, "The CEO is attempting to divide and rule between the Northern District and the other districts. We hope that the committee chairman and chairman Zarfati will demonstrate leadership and won't lend their hands to this."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 11, 2009
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