An apparent agreement between the Haifa port stevedores and the Histadrut, Israel’s federation of labor, to restore labor peace at the port, collapsed last night when a committee of the stevedores unanimously rejected the Histadrut proposals. The stevedores are now in the third week of a slow-down of loading operations.
The stevedores’ committee called for “further talks with the Histadrut trade union department and the Haifa Labor Council to clarify disputed points” of their demands. These involve higher pay and changes in working conditions. The decision to continue the slow-down came after a seven-hour meeting in Tel Aviv which ended yesterday morning with apparent acceptance of the Histadrut proposals. However, the stevedores’ committee dissociated itself from the decision today.
The rebuff was a sharp disappointment to Histadrut negotiators who had believed their formula had been accepted. When the Haifa Labor Council met yesterday afternoon, however, a majority contended that the Histadrut’s proposals were “insufficiently detailed” and that the stevedores would hold out for commitments “in black and white.” The demands, informed sources said, amounted to requests for increases of between 30 and 40 percent of existing pay scales.
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