In yesterday's negotiations with Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd. management, the Ministries of Finance and Transport proposed speeded up talks before the company's schedule strike on Monday, November 7, including an advance to ensure the workers' salaries in the near future. The purpose of the offer is to facilitate a month of intensive negotiations for the next subsidies and competition agreement without the threat of a strike. The cabinet said that Egged's representatives accepted the proposal initially, but that Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) chairman Avi Nissenkorn later torpedoed the measure.
Transportation Workers Union chairman Avi Edri responded positively to the offer to ensure the workers' pay. "We heard that such a proposal was going around and we're not opposed; we're in favor of it," Edri commented. "The negotiations aren't being held with us; they are directly with Egged, but the state has to inject all the money coming to Egged: not just the salaries, but everything Egged needs to carry on. What if there's no money for gas all of sudden? We have to be sure that Egged has enough financial backing to operate."
Despite the positive tone, Edri expressed doubt about the ability to reach a settlement of the type being proposed. "It's a long way from making offers to actually giving money. How much time is left - a day and a half? Let's see if they put up the money. We're not eager to go on strike."
Egged spokesman Ron Ratner criticized the offer, saying, "The demand for a NIS 250 million advance is not made in a vacuum. The Ministry of Finance has offset the money illegally. Egged is demanding marathon talks to bridge the differences with the Ministries of Finance and Transport and devise principles for an agreement… Everyone knows that the Histadrut is the one who announced the planned strike in the framework of a work dispute, realizing that only a new inputs agreement will enable Egged to sign a new collective agreement with the workers."
Another meeting began today between Ministry of Finance director general Shai Babad, Minister of Finance deputy budget director Udi Adiri, Ministry of Transport director general Keren Terner, Egged chairman Avraham Friedman, Egged financial department chairman Shimon Goldberg, and Egged CFO Gilad Riklin.
Sources inform "Globes" that following his meeting with Nissenkorn last Monday, Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon delegated Babad to negotiate on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. The cabinet asserts that in contrast to Egged's statements that it had agreed to competition on additional routes, the company had presented a three-part ultimatum: an 18-year agreement, a NIS 200 million addition to its current subsidy to cover excess costs, and a halt in competition - in other words, no more lines will be taken away from Egged. The cabinet's attitude towards competition in transportation has been questionable from the beginning, because what is actually involved is competition for the purchase of a 6-12-year monopoly for groups of lines in tenders.
Knesset public transportation subcommittee chairman MK Dov Khenin (Joint Arab List) told "Globes" that if the crisis persists, the committee he heads will summon a debate on the subject. "It's clear to me that Egged plays a very key role in the public transportation system in Israel," Khenin said. "I hope that a real effort will be made to hold a dialogue and solve problems, so that we don’t reach a situation in which such an important element of public transportation in Israel goes on strike, with the resulting heavy economic damage, when a large group of passengers has no real alternatives."
A spokesman for Nissenkorn said, "The Histadrut chairman did not take any action whatsoever to torpedo the Ministry of Finance proposal. He is waiting for real concrete proposals for a solution to the crisis, and is waiting to hear from Egged management, which is meeting right now with the Ministry of Finance, what offers have been made. After the offers are heard, they will be considered."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 3, 2016
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