The cabinet approved today's reform in Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) following two and a half hours of tumultuous debate. Despite criticism by minister from the Jewish Home Party and objections by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the vote was not postponed and the cabinet unanimously approved the reform.
During the debate, Netanyahu again raised the subject of the state's petition to the High Court of Justice against the right of IEC workers to go on strike in opposition to structural changes in the economy and commented on the power of the workers' committees in monopolies. At the same time, the state is likely to announce in the coming days the withdrawal of its High Court of Justice petition against the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and the IEC workers' committee, following today's cabinet approval of the reform in IEC.
The agreement was approved unanimously after both Netanyahu and Minister of Education Naftali Bennett admitted that "An electricity sector with reform is better than one without reform."
Netanyahu said during the discussion that although the bottom line was that he supported the agreement, "There is a bottom line below the bottom line." Netanyahu noted in this context that while from a historical perspective, organized labor had grown following the industrial revolution and in the circumstances of child labor and exploitation of workers, "The situation today is the opposite, and people have to be protected from the committees."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 3, 2018
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