The Ashdod Port Company Ltd. and Haifa Port Company Ltd. workers were at the center of attention this week, and probably not for the last time. Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett, the man who justifies disobeying orders to vacate settlements, sees no problem in sending the IDF to break legitimate labor disputes of the ports' workers.
On Sunday, a contingency plan was leaked for using the army to operate the ports if they were shut down because of a decision to build a private port. On Friday, the Ministry of Transport's real plan was revealed, at the center of which is the strengthening of Israel's other ports (yes, there is a port at Hadera), and the hiring of foreign port workers.
Before the war begins, we should ask ourselves if all of this is worthwhile. Isn't there another way? The answer is, no. The ports workers have left the government no choice.
On the face of it, the situation at the ports is not so bad. The ports companies are profitable (especially Ashdod Port), and distribute hundreds of millions of shekels in dividends to the state. The Trajtenberg Committee, and many experts on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, say that the ports' inefficiency raises the cost of living, but none of them has been able to show by how much.
The crux of the problem is not the ports' efficiency or their loading and unloading rates. The problem begins and ends with the lack of an alternative. Land transportation prices sharply raise the cost of transporting goods to the periphery. They create a situation in which businesspeople south of Rishon LeZion are captives of the Ashdod Port, while those north of Hadera are captives of the Haifa Port. There is competition between the ports, but it is mostly limited to the center of the country.
The port workers control the switch, just like Israel Electric Corporation's (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) employees. But in contrast to their colleagues at IEC, the ports workers do not hesitate to use their power. It starts with such absurd incidents as the shutting down of a port during the bar mitzvah of the worker committee chairman's son; it continues in preferential treatment of associates who want to operate on the ports' premises; and it is liable to end in the receipt of benefits from importers and exporters in exchange for giving their goods special treatment.
Competition is not a wonder cure for the malaise at the Ashdod and Haifa ports, but it can reduce the scale of the problem. At present, the ports workers committees enjoy almost complete immunity, simply because of their power to harm importers and exporters. Such a situation, by definition, invites trouble.
The Netanyahu government's original plan was sell the ports gradually, through flotation on the stock exchange, but the committees torpedoed that idea. The state tried a different tack, competition within the ports, meaning privatization of a one quay inside the port. The workers committees announced that such a step would be considered a declaration of war. The state capitulated, recognizing the limits of its power. The committees, there's no getting away from it, are the sole proprietors in the territory of the ports.
The new private port will be constructed outside the territory and influence of the port workers. Its employees will be unionized, and will enjoy rights similar to those of their colleagues working for the government companies. There is every reason to expect that they will not be deterred from striking, but they will not be able to paralyze the entire country, or even half of it. Setting up a private port is currently the only realistic solution on the table, even if it is far from perfect.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 23, 2013
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