Port workers: Strike is inevitable, actions likely to start on 15th January

A strike was again looming over the country's ports .
 
Workers at the state-owned ports of Haifa, Eilat and Ashdod said last week they expected to go on strike in two weeks' time in continuing protest against the forthcoming reforms at the three sea ports.
 
The reform at the ports is planned to go into effect on February 17, 2005. On February 17, 2005 The Ports Authority will be dismantled and replaced by four state-owned companies. Three will be port management firms, for Ashdod, Haifa, and Eilat, and the fourth will own and manage their assets, and manage direct investment at the ports.

Alon Hassan chairman of the Ashdod Port workers union said last week that "The strike in August was just the tip of the iceberg in comparison to what is about to happen”.
 
The labor unrest at the port centers on securing the employment terms of the country's port workers, preserving its traditions such as nepotistic hiring, and the government's privatization plans to split the ports into separate independent units and then sell them.

Dudu Peretz chairman of the Haifa Port union said that it seems that all parties concerned; the government, the manufacturers association and the chambers of commerce had not yet woken up and did not understand the seriousness of the situation.