Israel: Ashdod Port workers refuse to unload cement

A petition has been filed by the management at Ashdod Port, Israel, against its workers, who refused to unload shipments of cement due to claims that they are understaffed. Port management is trying to enforce conditions laid out in a long-standing agreement which says shipments can be unloaded by just two workers. The workers union has claimed that this is unfair as the agreement was drafted when supertankers did not exist and unloading ships now entails far more work than before.

This dispute comes shortly after another in June, in which workers were told to use a difference entrance gate to the port almost 2km away rather than the gate that had been used by them for years. Workers protested by not turning up to work and the matter was not resolved until a court ruling ordered the workers to use the new gates.

There is currently at least one ship docked Ashdod Port carrying 4750t of cement, but it is not being unloaded pending the petition.