Over 1,000 Israel Chemicals Ltd.’s workers protested on March 20 outside of the company’s headquarters in Tel Aviv against planned layoffs at the company as part of a restructuring plan. The union protested the payment of millions of dollars to senior management at a time when the company was planning to fire workers. ICL published its 2013 results and with it figures on salaries paid to senior management. ICL CEO Stefan Burgos received over $5 million in compensation, making him the highest paid executive at an Israeli company and 51 percent higher than his predecessor Akiva Mozes. The union charges the management with wanting to lay off as many as 1,000 workers. Management said that the restructuring plan will lead to 500 to 600 layoffs over the next two-to-three years along with other cost saving measures.
Workers have been implementing sanctions on a rotating basis at ICL’s six subsidiaries. Hardest hit has been Rotem Amfert which has been shut down for the past week. Rotem Amfert CEO Nissim Arad issued an open letter to workers earlier this week saying that the shut down is causing tremendous damage to the company. He noted that Rotem Amfert’s position in the world market will be impacted and customers will turn elsewhere. Arad said that management has been trying for months to negotiate with the workers but of no avail and the union has failed to understand the gravity of the situation.
The Rotem Amfert workers have been the most militant as they are facing immediate layoffs. Management is trying to immediately fire 23 workers and a total of 127 in the coming weeks. ICL management said that it has offered a generous severance package and called on the workers to return to the negotiating table.