Workers at the Ashdod Port were back on the job Wednesday after the National Labor Court ordered them to hold off on any strikes or work slowdowns until at least June 1. The order means that dozens of ships that were held up in the port began being unloaded Tuesday.
Manufacturers, importers and exporters had complained to the court that the work slowdown by port workers at Ashdod, coupled with an overload at Haifa port caused by a backup of ships trying to get into that port instead, had cost them NIS 2 billion.
And why the slowdown? Because workers felt they were being cheated out of – their steak dinners.
The genesis of the strike goes back to a recent decision by port officials to stop giving the special bonus to cargo unloading crews, who had been receiving the NIS 200 bonus for good work. For years, the port had been awarding enthusiastic workers who unpacked at least 180 containers on each shift with a NIS 200 coupon, good for a steak dinner in a local eatery. The port paid the income tax on the coupons as well; workers could collect as much as NIS 3,600 per year in certificates.
The coupons for efficient work were first awarded three years ago by port management; at the time, some NIS 600,000 was distributed to workers then. Last year, port workers received NIS 3.7 million in steak dinner bonuses – much more than anticipated, and out of the range of the port's budget. In April, officials held an emergency meeting with Treasury officials, asking for special funding for the bonus program – but the request was denied, and the bonuses were stopped.
Sanctions – beginning with a by the book slowdown and culminating in a full-blown strike by some employees this week – started at the beginning of May.
The Labor Court on Wednesday ordered everyone back to work. For the next two weeks, union and port officials will discuss the bonus program. In the meantime, workers who unload the requisite number of containers will be credited with a dinner coupon, but will not actually receive it until after the court revisits the issue in June, in the event that both sides do not come to an agreement.
Avi Edri, chairman of the Histadrut's Transport Union, praised the decision, saying, “the workers will go back to receiving their bonuses, as they should be.”