The Haifa Regional Labor Court has issued a restraining order against the sanctions taken by Haifa Port workers. From Thursday until the order was issued, the line of ships and trucks seeking to enter the port of Haifa to unload and load goods became longer. The delays were created following the refusal of the port workers to work overtime as usual, in protest of the non-receipt of bonuses of NIS 13.3 million that they claim they deserve. The Companies Authority claims that only employees who earn less than the CEO’s salary are entitled to bonuses. Out of about 900 employees in the northern port, about 200 earn a CEO’s salary or more.
In other words, the 200 strong workers in the port who earn very high salaries, about whom there is a dispute over the bonuses, prevent the receipt of the undisputed bonuses that reach another 700 workers. The salary of the CEO of the Port of Haifa is about NIS 48,000 a month. About 200 powerful employees in the port earn between NIS 50,000 and NIS 80,000 a month and skippers NIS 60,000-50,000. Israeli ports, but the bonus is still relevant to them.The employees who stay at the port and earn more from the CEO are mostly members of the management.
Management: “Extremely heavy damage”
Haifa Port employees are the highest paid among all public bodies. According to the Ministry of Finance’s salary report published six months ago, workers at the Port of Haifa earned an average of NIS 35,742 per job in 2019 – an increase of about NIS 800 within a year. Most of the port’s employees, about two-thirds of them, earn an average of NIS 42,000 a month full-time.
The port management, the board of directors and the employees agreed among themselves to give the bonus to the strong employees as well. But last week, Ram Blinkov, director general of the Ministry of Finance and deputy director of the Companies Authority, met with senior officials at the port. In light of Blinkov’s position, the workers have taken organizational measures that are expressed, according to the port management, in a “total refusal to perform work overtime and overtime shifts.” According to the management, “stopping work overtime causes very heavy damage.”
Although there is currently a “ceasefire” between the workers and the management, the frictions may resume in about two weeks. On December 15, Linkov will attend a hearing in the Haifa District Labor Court, which will also be attended by Histadrut representative Avi Edri and Haifa Port Director General Mandy Salzman. “Sit down and talk to the parties before making a decision, and in any case, give a good reason for the decision, taking into account all the arguments of the management and the employees’ representatives.”
Of the annual bonuses that are supposed to be paid for 2018 in the amount of NIS 13.3 million, about 4.3 million are intended to be distributed to employees only after the expected privatization of the port in about six months.
A letter sent by the Companies Authority to the Port Authority states that “The Government Companies Authority circular on bonus policies in business government companies sets out the rules and regulations on the subject in question, one of which is non-payment of bonuses to government company employees whose gross salary is higher.” Since the total amount of the bonus paid to all the company’s employees is fixed, therefore, the payment of the bonus to employees who earn very high amounts on any scale, between 50 and 80 thousand shekels each month, will come at the expense of the company’s other employees. Those who earn lower wages. “
Histadrut: “Most wages – overtime”
On the other hand, the Histadrut claims that while the CEO’s salary is “global”, the workers for whom the bonus is disputed work overtime to reach this level of wages. They agree that these workers will receive reduced bonuses, but strongly oppose the non-sweeping granting of grants.