Energy system stability: OPC and Histadrut agree on salary increases and large bonuses

The agreements affect several enterprises at once. At the OPC Hadera power plant, the existing collective agreement is being updated. For the employees of OPC Tsomet Energy and OPC Sorek 2, such agreements have been concluded for the first time.

One of the main components of the new contracts is an increase in wages. Employees are provided with an annual salary indexation of 4-4.5%, and another 400 shekels will be added to the base rate, the Histadrut press service reports.

A significant part of the agreements concerns bonus payments. Employees will be able to count on annual bonuses, which on average will amount to about 2.5 monthly salary. In addition, special payments are provided for the commercial launch of the Hadera and Sorek 2 stations.

The changes will also affect pensions. The agreements provide for an increase in pension contributions to the maximum possible level. For employees working in shifts, the calculation base from which appropriate deductions are made is expanded.

At the same time, the volume of additional benefits is increasing. Workers will receive higher subsidies for recreation and wellness, food and transportation. Thus, financial improvements are not limited only to the basic salary and extend to the social conditions of employees.

The negotiations were part of a Histadrut initiative aimed at leveling and regulating employment conditions in Israel’s private energy sector. The process was coordinated by a specialized working group led by the deputy head of the trade union department, lawyer Tehila Benisu.

The parties expect that the new rules will provide employees with financial stability and a clear system for increasing income, and that the company will allow them to work in conditions of predictable labor relations and without protracted conflicts between management and teams.

Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David and OPC Chief Operating Officer Yoav Gorali view the agreements as a benchmark for private energy. According to them, the economic results of enterprises should also be reflected in the conditions that the people who ensure their daily work receive.

Representatives of several Histadrut districts participated in the preparation and coordination of documents. Among them are the head of the Ashkelon district Rami Guata, the head of the Hadera district Itzik Yitzhaki and the head of the Ashdod district of the Histadrut Chaim Sheib.

They emphasized that clearly defined employment conditions and stable relationships between teams and management are especially important for energy enterprises, on the uninterrupted operation of which the reliability of the infrastructure directly depends.

The employees at the negotiations were represented by the chairmen of the working committees Vyacheslav Shokhat from OPC Rotem, Nadir Khalil from OPC Hadera and Nikita Gorbunov from Tsomet Energy. According to them, the agreements reached give workers more financial confidence and allow them to understand what conditions and prospects they can count on in the coming years.

Specialized economists and lawyers from both parties were also involved in working on the agreements. The result of the negotiations was a single package of agreements, which simultaneously updates the conditions for some existing employees and, for the first time, secures the collective rights of workers at two more OPC facilities.

For the Histadrut, these agreements are the next step towards extending collective regulation to the private energy sector, and for OPC workers their result is expressed in very specific figures: an annual salary increase of 4-4.5%, an additional 400 shekels to the base rate, bonuses on average 2.5 times the salary, increased pension contributions and an expanded set of social benefits.