History has been made at Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL). The mobile carrier's management announced on Monday evening that it recognizes the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) as the union representing the company's employees, after additional signatures removed all doubt that the employees achieved the majority needed to establish a workers committee.
This was a historic day for Cellcom's employees, who waged a stubborn battle in recent months and ultimately succeeded in getting management to recognize their union. Last week, the employees threatened that if management did not change its attitude, and continued to refuse to recognize their union, they would declare a labor dispute.
Over a week ago, Cellcom's employees submitted the 199 forms that management claimed were lacking for representation, and even submitted more forms than were necessary. The employees claimed that, despite this, management continued to drag its feet and that it was not prepared to accept the demand to meet with the employees' representatives for negotiations on a collective agreement.
Cellcom said, "Following the signatures of the new union members submitted to the company in the past few days, the company's board of directors convened this evening and recognized the Histadrut as the representing union at the company. The company's board of directors stated that the company's employees have always been partners in the company's success; and Cellcom, as it has stated in the past, respects the employees' wish to unionize and it will enter into negotiations with the employees' representatives on a collective agreement."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 3, 2013
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