Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini cancelled today's press conference at his office in Tel Aviv, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to ask for a meeting this evening to discuss the ports reform and privatization.
On Thursday, Eini said that he would call today's press conference, after the government announced that it would publish two tenders for the construction of private ports at the Ashdod Port and Haifa Port, without prior discussions.
"Netanyahu apparently realized that he did not want a confrontation, especially when his government is so fragile," a Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) source told "Globes".
Eini's aides said today that he did not plan to declare a labor dispute, belying earlier reports. He reportedly planned to open a general front against Netanyahu and to attack him over the budget. The sources added that Eini planned to say that the Netanyahu government was waging an "orchestrated campaign" against organized labor in Israel, and that the ports reform was only an excuse. The Histadrut believes that declaring a labor dispute and going on strike were precisely the steps that the government expected, and, ironically, even hoped for.
"There are worse things than a strike," said a source close to Eini this morning, adding that Eini had no intention of falling into the trap. At the press conference, Eini was due to say that the Histadrut did not oppose competition in any industry, as it had already said about the Open Skies reform. The Histadrut does not oppose Open Skies in principle, but demanded, and received, promises for a large increase in the subsidies for Israeli airlines' security costs.
Eini's aides believe that presenting matters as if the Histadrut opposed competition is spin with two purposes: diverting the public's attention from the austerity measures in the state budget, and blackening the Histadrut and organized labor in general.
At the press conference, Eini reportedly planned to embarrass Netanyahu, and expose his behind-the-scenes conduct against cabinet ministers. For some time, Eini has been claiming in private conversations that there are "two governments in Israel" - one headed by Netanyahu and the second headed by Minister of Finance Yair Lapid. Eini planned to say that while Lapid had told him both privately and in public that the plan to ban strikes in critical services "was not on the agenda", Netanyahu has repeatedly said that such a plan was not only on the agenda, but that he supported it and was pushing it. In private conversations, Eini says that this conduct was carried out at the expense of the Histadrut and Israel's workers, and he would not let it pass.
When Eini's aides said that there were worse things than a strike, they meant that Eini has been silent in the public and political space since the government was formed, but that this silence would end if the meeting with Netanyahu ends badly. Eini struck a deal with Lapid to postpone the 1% pay hike for public sector employees in exchange for industrial quiet over the budget, but the government's steps could be a cause to break this quiet.
This means that Eini may lead the opposition to Netanyahu's government in the future, by opposing many items in the budget, including the targeting of tax breaks for pension funds. Such opposition could also help Eini in the Labor Party, where he is expected to support the candidacy of MK Isaac Herzog against chairwoman MK Shelly Yachimovich. Eini and Yachimovich's relations have greatly cooled in the past year, and weakened Eini's political power. A campaign against the Netanyahu government could strengthen him within the party and indirectly help his preferred candidate.
Eini does not protect workers' rights
Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce president Uriel Lynn today rebuffed claims that the government was waging a campaign against organized labor, saying, "Eini's claims as if there is incitement against organized labor and labor rights are groundless. The truth is the opposite. Unionization in Israel is only strengthening, and not always by the Histadrut."
Lynn added, "None of Eini's actions contribute anything to the rights and freedoms of organized labor. He does not protect workers' rights, but aims to protect the extra rights of the strong unions at critical monopolies. It seems that Eini has forgotten that monopolies, such as at the seaports, and Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) are intended to serve the public and the state's interests, and not the extra rights of the strong unions, which are far from downtrodden."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 7, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013