Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini and Minister of Transport Israel Katz reached a deal to resume intensive negotiations over the next two weeks on the outsourcing of railway rolling stock maintenance. They struck the deal in the midst of the Tel Aviv District Labor Court hearing on the petition by the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) Israel Railways workers committee to be allowed to hold a strike on the railways. Railways workers committee chairwoman Gila Edri is outraged that she was not invited to Eini and Katz's meeting.
Eini, Katz, and senior Histadrut and Israel Railway officials met in a separate room. They will submit their agreement to the court when the hearing resumes. The parties agreed that the rolling stock maintenance outsourcing agreement signed between Israel Railways and Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD) will be frozen during the two weeks of negotiations, and the railway workers will keep industrial quiet. If a final agreement is not reached after two weeks, the Histadrut will have the right to strike the railways.
Railways workers committee members are trying to calm down the outraged Edri. When a Histadrut official asked her to enter the meeting room, responded angrily, "I won't go in; Ofer should come out to me."
Edri is demanding an immediate strike of the railways in response to yesterday's outsourcing agreement with Bombardier. The Histadrut is trying to explain the compromise to her.
During the court hearing, the judge cited a ruling by National Labor Court President Nili Arad banning Israel Railways management from signing the outsourcing agreement with Bombardier without negotiations with the railway workers. Israel Railways delayed signing the agreement for 18 months due to the labor dispute over the outsourcing.
Two months ago, the National Labor Court overturned a District Court ruling to allow a railways strike over Israel Railways' intention to outsource work. The National Labor Court reiterated this principle in the contract workers case. The state contends that outsourcing maintenance on new rolling stock does not violate the "shoulder-to-shoulder" issue.
Israel Railways' management refuses to disclose the details of the Bombardier agreement to the Histadrut, or the minutes of the board of directors' meeting. Israel Railways' management has asked for 48 hours to review the matter, after the judge asked for management's response to yesterday's petition on this point by the Histadrut.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2012
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