On Monday evening, the Beersheva District Labor Court froze the layoff notices sent to employees of Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) unit Rotem Amfert Negev. Six fired employees will return to work and the phosphates plant will resume regular operations. Judge Moshe Tweivh also ordered management to implement the retirement agreement reached in negotiations mediated by the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel).
The court has been holding hearings in recent weeks on Rotem Amfert's emergency streamlining plan to adjust the company's procedures to the conditions in the global phosphates market.
Israel Chemicals' management recently resumed the layoffs process at the company. This included notifying six employees that they were to be laid off, in addition to new notices to four other employees, whose previous layoff notices had been suspended several weeks ago, after the parties agreed to negotiations.
Rotem Amfert workers committee chairman Moshe Hadad said, "I am pleased that the labor court has halted the attempt to arbitrarily and unilaterally fire employees. With a heavy heart, we have fully accepted the proposal submitted in the talks mediated by [Histadrut chairman] Ofer Eini and [Histadrut Trade Unions Division chairman] Avi Nissenkoren for the early retirement of 115 employees. We call on the plant's management to act responsibly and sit down with us to complete the plant's streamlining through agreements and understandings."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 14, 2014
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