Trade Union declared labor dispute in Israel's three maritime gateways

Following emergency meeting, Transport Ministrer Mofaz informed Histadrut chairman Eini that he would request the Prime Minister to re-discuss the matter in the next cabinet meeting
 
The Histadrut Labor Federation declared last Tuesday a labor dispute in the three Israeli ports, Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat ports.
 
The trade union move was expected, after Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini failed to persuade the government to revoke the item in the economic arrangements bill that will allow Israel Ports Development & Assets company (IPC) to manage the ports' operations as well as their assets.
 
IPC is responsible for the development of Israel’s three commercial seaports in Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat and for providing them with the necessary infrastructure which will allow them to efficiently and competitively handle Israel’s international maritime trade. In addition to managing some of the country’s largest infrastructure development projects, the company acts as Israel’s port property landlord, managing the government’s assets allocated for the facilitation of its international maritime commerce.
 
The Histadrut claims that having IPC as the actual manager of all aspects pertaining to the ports' daily operations, will destabilize the current working relations in the ports, by introducing part-time workers at the expense of the regular staff.
 
Following the declaration by the Histadrut,  port workers have began to "go-slow" and the three ports are already operating in 50% capacity, and may drop to 30% as the crisis continues.
 
Industry experts who were asked about the situation assess that the situation may soon escalate to a full-out strike.
 
Sources in Haifa Port said that the unloading of the boats currently docking in the port may take up to five / six days.
 
Gabi Ben-Harush, chairman of Israel's Road Transport Board and Reuven Zuk, president of the Israeli Chamber of Shipping, met late last week in an attempt to circumvent the possible congestion outside the ports.
 
Ben-Harush suggested ordering his trucks to stay away from the ports, while Zuk redirects ships from the blocked Israeli ports to neighboring countries for unloading.
 
Several ships have already declared "end of voyage" and unloaded cargo at nearby ports.     
 
Gad Schaefer, Chairman of the Israel Shippers' Council said in an interview that in his opinion, "the government made a mistake in the way it tried to handle the entire thing… we're not facing congestion just yet, but with holiday shipments scheduled to arrive, we can certainly feel the pressure.”
 
The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce's Shipping and Transport Council held also an emergency meeting to discuss the labor dispute, and urged the Histadrut and the Finance Ministry to begin negotiations in an effort to solve the ports crisis. Following emergency meeting held at the end of the week, Transport Ministrer Shaul Mofaz informed Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini that he would request the Prime Minister to re-discuss the matter in the next cabinet meeting. There are doubts whether the government would agree.