ISRAEL is bracing for strikes as unions prepare to fight
privatisation after a call for tenders to build two US$1.1 billion private
container terminals at the state-owned ports of Haifa and Ashdod.
The Histadrut labour federation, which has fought reforms
at other ports, has yet to give an official response to the government's
decision to issue the tenders for private terminals.
The planned private terminals will be able to handle
18,000-TEU ships compared with the 9,500-TEUers unionised facilities accommodate
today.
The Israel Ports Company, handling the bidding, says
current facilities will run out of capacity by 2017-18, as traffic is forecast
to grow five per cent a year. The new terminals will each have a 1.4 million
TEU annual capacity
Private terminals form part of the government' plan to
break what it calls a "union stranglehold" over Haifa and Ashdod
known for low productivity and high costs.
Said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "
Two thousand people will not be allowed to shut down the economy at will. I am
not prepared to accept this monopoly. It's over."
Transport Minister Israel Katz said strikes aimed at
stopping the reforms would be tantamount to a "declaration of war" to
which the government would respond with equal determination.
Source : HKSG.
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