Israel Cabinet Orders Haifa Dock Workers to Resume Full Work

The 1,500 dockworkers in Haifa, who have been tying up the port for more than five weeks through a slow-down action in which they have reduced the amount of loading and unloading by about 50 percent, were given an ultimatum by Israel’s Cabinet today. The Cabinet ordered them to resume full activities or face Government action “within the framework of its responsibilities and authority.”

At the same time, the Cabinet also decided to reopen the port of Tel Aviv, and to speed harbor facilities in the new Port of Ashdod. Transport Minister Moshe Carmel told the Cabinet that the port of Haifa may have to be closed down, at least temporarily, until a solution to the labor dispute is reached. The workers at the Haifa port are demanding wage increases exceeding, by far, the 5 percent to 10 percent wage hikes approved for them by Histadrut, the Israel federation of labor.

According to the ship owners, the Haifa port tie-up, with loadings and unloading delayed and the harbor congested, has, to date, cost them about $2, 000, 000.

Meanwhile, the two parties in Israel’s dominant political alignment — Mapai and Achdut Avodah — agreed tentatively here today that industrial firms unable to pay additional cost-of-living allowances, beginning July 1, be permitted to pass on that extra financial burden to the Government. Additional cost-of-living allowances are to be granted at the beginning of next month to workers earning not more than 350 Israeli pounds ($117) per month.

The agreement was reached at a conference held by Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir, who is Acting Premier; Mrs. Golda Meir, secretary-general of the Mapai Party; and Israel Galilee, representing Achdut Avodah. There had been fears here that failure to agree on the vital issue of financing the cost-of-living increases might have endangered the future of the Mapai-Achdut Avodah alignment.