The Cabinet empowered Transport Minister Shimon Peres today to intervene in a work stoppage by ships’ officers which has idled five Israeli vessels in ports here and forced the diversion of a sixth to a foreign port. The Cabinet authorized Peres, in consultation with the Premier and with the Defense and Labor ministers “to use all and any means in his power, including the issuance of emergency regulations,” to ensure the uninterrupted flow of essential supplies to Israel by sea.
The ships’ officers walked off their jobs today in support of demands for higher wages. According to Moshe Kashti, director general of the Zim Lines, Israel’s national shipping company, the officers acted while negotiations were underway. The officers claimed that Zim had reneged on promised new wage scales. Peres said that while a ministerial committee on salaries had approved a 40 percent pay raise for the officers, the latter were demanding increments and benefits that would amount in effect to a 100 percent increase.
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