The crisis in the Israel Postal Company is likely to resume if a dispute between the Ministries of Finance and Communications over the number of mail delivery days is not solved soon. The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) warned that it would renew sanctions if the matter is not solved in the near future.
The dispute focuses on the Ministry of Finance's demand, on which it reached agreement with the Histadrut, on a switch to two mail delivery days a week as part of a general reform in the company, despite opposition from Minister of Communications , who is demanding an initial transition to three mail delivery days for a trial period, after which a transition to two mail delivery days would be considered.
The Communications Ministry's position is based on concern about further deterioration in the company's already poor service. The ministry fears that a switch to two mail delivery days will harm mainly small businesses, which will have to send their mail through the more expensive special rapid mail service.
A senior Communications Ministry source told "Globes" that a transition to three mail delivery days was extreme enough, because no country in the world had only two mail delivery days, and Israel should not be the only one. The source said that nothing bad would happen if the transition were done gradually, with the market absorbing the change more normally.
The Histadrut threatened again this morning that if the question is not solved, it would resume its sanctions, after the question of the postal branches' working hours had been agreed. The Histadrut says that this is one of the few remaining items left open, and that it involved arguments between the Finance and Communications Ministries to which it was not a party.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 28, 2014
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