Workers at Dead Sea Works and Rotem Amfert on Monday, Feb. 9, held a one-day warning strike in solidarity with striking workers at Dead Sea Bromine Compounds. They are all subsidiaries of Israel Chemicals Ltd. The workers at Dead Sea Works prevented potash from leaving the premises of the Sdom plant and Rotem Amfert workers stopped all shipments of phosphates. The sanctions were approved by the Histadrut Labor Federation in response to the strike at Dead Sea Bromine after negotiations between the union and management over the firing of 140 workers broke down.
Dead Sea Works union head Armond Lankri called on ICL”s management to take back the dismissal notices to Dead Sea Bromine workers and return to the negotiating table. Dead Sea Works workers halted potash shipments from mid-December for a month. The sanctions were only halted after an agreement was reached at the Beer Sheba Labor Court whereby ICL management agreed to withdraw dismissal notices sent to 134 workers at Dead Sea Works. The court instructed the parties to hold intensive negotiations to reach an agreement on outstanding issues and report back to the court by Feb. 15. With that date fast approaching and no agreement in site it appears that workers may again go on strike. Regardless, expectations are that Dead Sea Works and Rotem workers may launch another one-day strike later this week or next.
In the meantime, the whole issue has come up in the election campaign with the opposition Labor party coming out in strong support of the workers. Former Finance Minister Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party have also given support to the workers and demanded that management take back the dismissal notices.