Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini will meet this morning at the Prime Minister's Office in a last-ditch attempt by Netanyahu to prevent the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) from declaring a labor dispute at the ports over the planned ports reform.
Yesterday evening, Netanyahu invited Eini to a meeting at 10 am today, after the Histadrut announced that it planned to declare a labor dispute at the ports at noon today. By law, this will allow a strike after a two-week cooling off period.
The Histadrut says that the talks between Netanyahu and Eini over the ports reform are deadlocked, because Netanyahu has refused to freeze the tenders for the construction of two private ports near the existing ports in Haifa and Ashdod, and because "he wants to talk with Eini while things are already underway."
Histadrut Transport Workers Union chairman Avi Edry says that only freezing the tenders will prevent the planned declaration of the labor dispute.
Eini may agree to the construction of the new ports on the condition that an industry-wide collective agreement is signed for the new ports, and on the condition that the current workers will receive a long-term safety net, for example through controlling the amount of work at the new ports.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 15, 2013
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