Earlier this week, the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) national workers committee made a historic decision: in a majority vote, it agreed to the spinning off of the utility's power stations and administrative units, which employee almost 400 people. However, members of the secretariat did not disclose that, a few days before the vote, they received a tempting offer from IEC's management, including administrative positions, salary hikes, and exorbitant benefits.
An inquiry by "Globes" found that IEC's management effectively offered a new career path at the utility, as a member of the workers committee. This conclusion is based on the salary benefits and conditions that management offered members of the workers committee, benefits and conditions that improved proportionately to the committee member's seniority or time served on the committee.
IEC's management and workers committee have been in talks for a year, without the details of the negotiations being disclosed to the employees. In recent months, parallel negotiations were held on the reform at IEC. In these discussions, members of the IEC national secretariat were due to take fateful decisions affecting the utility's employees, including the voluntary retirement of about 1,500 employees, and a decision whether to permit "administrative flexibility" - i.e. the workers committee would forego its veto power on layoffs by management.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 12, 2010
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