National Labor Court President Steve Adler has ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini, and the Ministry of Finance to explain, by Sunday, why they included a series of legislative changes on labor relations in the 2009-10 economic arrangements bill, which is an expedited procedure. The amendments are part of the economic package deal.
Judge Adler gave the order in response to a petition filed by the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, headed by president Uriel Lynn, for an injunction against the package deal. Adler also instructed the Chambers of Commerce to submit its arguments tomorrow.
Judge Adler also ordered Manufacturers Association president Shraga Brosh, as head of the Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations, to explain the reasons for the amendments to the labor laws even though the Chambers of Commerce did not include the Manufacturers Association as a respondent in the petition, because the it also represents the Chambers of Commerce.
In the petition, Chambers of Commerce said that there the amending of labor relations laws should not be carried out through the economic arrangements bill, because the amendments involved material changes that should be preceded by negotiations with employers. The Chambers of Commerce said that while Brosh gave his consent to the package deal, he did so without first discussing it at Federation of Israeli Economic Organizations or notifying them of the content of the deal. The Chambers of Commerce yesterday called this deception and an "end-run" maneuver.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 20, 2009
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