Labour Tribunal Justice Edna Gavrieli this morning (Tuesday) instructed Bezeq employees to return immediately to regular work, and to hold intensive negotiations with company management, the Ministries of Communications and Finance, and the Government Companies Authority, concerning the employees’ demands for guarantees concerning plans to make organizational changes in the company.
As of this evening, the employees remained in violation of the court injunction, and had not returned to work.
This evening, Bezeq general manager Ami Arel is scheduled to meet with Ministry of Communications director-general Daniel Rosenne, Government companies Authority director Tzippi Livni and Deputy Accountant-General of the Ministry of Finance Yitzhak Klein, to discuss continued negotiations with the employees, in keeping with the court’s instructions. Employee representatives were invited to the meeting, but it is not known if they plan to attend.
Minister of Communications Limor Livnat told "Globes" today that if the employees do not return to work today, she will consider emergency injunctions for essential employees, in order to enable Israel’s communications system to continue to operate.
Bezeq management plans to go to court today to sue company employees for contempt of court.
In the meantime, more and more damages have been reported resulting from Bezeq employees’ increased sanctions. Only one round of trading, of options, and one round of computerized trading, was held on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Due to the disconnection of many Tel Aviv phone lines, due to the collapse of the West Tel Aviv exchange, there was no trading in Mishtanim shares. The crash affected 22,000 lines in the area of the Shalom Towers and Textile House.
The sanctions seriously disrupted Cellcom and Pelephone’s communications lines. International communications activity was disrupted and 1-800 services were disconnected. A problem at the Sharon exchange left thousands of Kfar Saba and Ra’anana subscribers without phone lines. Hundreds of Mifal Hapayis (State Lottery) data transmission lines were also out of commission, causing the postponement of the lottery drawing until 11:30 pm this evening.
The Romema exchange in Jerusalem was also paralyzed, disconnecting about 20,000 subscribers and shutting down Israel Broadcast Authority communications activities.
Livnat stated that Bezeq employees are deserving, but the public does not deserve that service be disconnected, just because Bezeq is a monopoly. Acording to her, the Ministry of Communications will take this into account when considering granting licenses to competitors.
The Federation of Chambers of Commerce announced it would file a damages suit against Bezeq employees for communications disruptions which caused damages to the business sector. The Federation's acting director-general, Yossi Shostuk, claimed the technical problems are no coincidence. Economists estimate that in the past day, hundreds of thousands of shekels in damages have been caused.
The Labour Tribunal scheduled another hearing on the Bezeq crisis for next Monday, if the sides do not reach an agreement before then.