Workers at the ports declared several strike protesting salary aspects, ignoring an agreement not to strike for five years as part of the reforms instituted at the country's ports.
In 2005 Israel implemented a port reform in order to generate competition and increase efficiency in the sector. The Israel ports authority was replaced with four companies, i.e. three port-operating companies and the Israel Ports Development & Assets Company. Regulatory oversight over these four companies is the responsibility of the newly created shipping and ports authority under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of transport.
Since the implementation of the reform government repeatedly said that the reform at the ports brought a spirit of change to all of Israel's ports and heralded a new era of competition among the ports.
Despite high hopes, the true picture of the state of the ports in Israel is far from being good. Gad Schaefer, chairman of the Israeli Shipper's Council, said last week that a study carried out by the Israeli Shipper's Council show that since the reform took place, four years ago, port workers carried out 41 work stoppages with a loss of 215 working days, costing economic losses of $2-3 billion.
Workers at the ports declared several strike protesting salary aspects, ignoring an agreement not to strike for five years as part of the reforms instituted at the country's ports.
Schaefer noted that the ports have not been working at full capacity and have been on “slowdown” for many days.
