Sources inform ''Globes'' that the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) workers committee yesterday ordered employees at the Gezer power plant in Ramle not to resume operations until a new salary agreement is signed. IEC was due to begin the flow of natural gas to the power plant, which has been converted from diesel.
IEC shut down the Gezer power plant yesterday in order initiate the conversion, but the workers committee ordered the plant's employees not to restart it. "Globes" has found that no order has yet been given to the workers committee to restart the plant.
The workers' refusal has caused tensions within IEC, because continuing operation of power plants by diesel is costing the company hundreds of thousands of shekels a day. At the same time, the company is already paying East Mediterranean Gas Co. (EMG) and Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. for natural gas deliveries
The sources added that IEC workers committee chairman Miki Zarfati met senior Ministry of Finance officials in an effort to settle the latest salary disputes. IEC workers are due to get a 5% wage hike under the new agreement, which will cost NIS 1 billion. The main outstanding dispute is the Ministry of Finance's demand for industrial quiet at the company, except over the reform and restructuring.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 18, 2008
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