Haifa Port labor dispute puts India's Adani under pressure
Workers are accusing management of breaching commitments and allowing safety conditions to deteriorate, while the port's owners are awaiting a decision on a proposed dividend payment that reportedly conflicts with the 2023 tender terms.
The Histadrut has declared a labor dispute at Haifa Port, which is owned by the Adani-Gadot Group, citing what it describes as a series of unilateral management decisions, deteriorating working conditions and serious safety deficiencies.
At the heart of the dispute is a significant decline in activity at the port. According to the Histadrut, the company has failed to fulfill commitments made to employees as part of collective agreements signed in February. The agreements were intended, among other things, to facilitate the recruitment of a new generation of workers while providing for the retirement of veteran employees and protecting their rights. They also included a commitment by management to expand port operations and rebuild relationships with customers, with the aim of diversifying the types of cargo handled at the facility.
Haifa Port employs approximately 700 workers, the vast majority of whom are unionized across seven professional sectors. The Histadrut claims that the decline in activity has led management to cut costs by unilaterally changing working conditions and outsourcing tasks to contract workers. In particular, it alleges that workers supplied by staffing agencies are carrying out routine duties normally performed by port employees, including moving vehicles between storage areas and unloading them from ships.
The Histadrut has also raised concerns about maintenance and safety conditions, citing poorly maintained cranes and operational equipment, damaged transit routes, inadequate lighting, faulty equipment and unsanitary conditions on the docks. It further claims that a worker was bitten by a rat on the pier earlier this month and that an air-conditioning unit fell on another employee's head in September.
Another point of contention is an alleged unilateral change to the operating hours of the port's entry and exit gates, which the Histadrut says undermines the implementation of retirement agreements and the rights of unionized employees. The labor federation says repeated attempts to resolve the issues with port management and senior executives at Adani have failed.
The declaration of a labor dispute could pave the way for industrial action, potentially disrupting operations at one of Israel's main maritime gateways in the north.
The dispute comes at a sensitive time for the port's owners. India's Adani Group and its Israeli partner Gadot are awaiting a decision by the Accountant General on a proposed dividend distribution. The payment is reportedly at odds with the terms of the tender agreement under which the consortium acquired the port in 2023.
