The Israel Ports Authority today petitioned the Haifa District Labor Court for an urgent injunction against the strike that began in Haifa Port before the Sukkot holiday. The strike is continuing.
The Ports Authority claims that workers are conducting an illegal, unjustified wildcat strike, without prior warning or coordination with the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel). The Ports Authority added that the only explanation for the strike is ulterior motives on the part of the workers committee, which have nothing to do with work arrangements in the port.
The background to the strike is a decision by the ports management a year ago to change the work arrangements for the port operations workers.
The Ports Authority said that Haifa Port, which was still handicapped by damage caused by the July-August port strike, was making huge efforts to rehabilitate Israel’s foreign trade image. The Ports Authority said that the workers committee’s caprices were defeating these efforts.
The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce today petitioned the National Labor Court against a renewal of the Histadrut’s general strike. The Histadrut alleges that local authorities employees have not been paid. The Chambers of Commerce’s petition was in response to a petition by the Histadrut asking that an injunction against the strike be voided.
The Chambers of Commerce’s petition says, “The Histadrut is not acting in good faith, permits itself to take the law into its own hands, and executes its own judgments.
The Chambers of Commerce also asserts that the Histadrut rode roughshod over the rule of law by delaying the official announcement of the end of the strike for four and a half hours, thereby causing enormous damage to the economy.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 4, 2004