Israel Aerospace Industries union reaches agreement with government

JERUSALEM — The Israel Aerospace Industries workers’ union has reached an agreement with the government’s Finance Ministry where so-called salary anomalies previously provided to company employees will be recognized as special retroactive grants, according to the union.

IAI’s labor dispute came to light in early May after the ministry demanded the return of funds received by the company’s employees over multiple years without governmental approval, contrary to what is customary in state-owned firms. The disagreement put the supply of the Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany under threat.

IAI is expected to distribute about a third of its $320 million profits from 2023 as bonuses to its approximately 15,000 employees. Half of IAI’s profits are to go to the state as a dividend.

“The apparent outline described will allow a time frame to try and regulate the alleged salary anomalies, while at the same time allowing salary promotions of employees,” Yair Katz, chairman of the workers’ union, told Defense News. “The new agreement should be signed in about three weeks. And with the signing of it, it will be possible to definitively state that the labor dispute threat has been removed from the table.”

Despite the previous threat of business disruption, IAI’s management supported its employees and form a united front with the union in its discussions with the ministry, claiming the funds were intended to retain its workers.

IAI declined to comment for this story. The ministry would also not go into details about the agreement, noting that “the final approval for the outline has not yet been given.”

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——据工会称，以色列航空航天工业工人联合会已与政府财政部达成协议，此前向公司员工提供的所谓“工资异常”将被承认为特殊的追溯性补助金。

以色列航空工业公司（IAI）的劳资纠纷于5月初曝光。此前，德国工信部要求该公司归还员工多年来未经政府批准而领取的款项，这违反了国有企业的惯例。此次纠纷使IAI向德国供应“箭-3”防空系统面临风险。

IAI预计将从2023年起，把3.2亿美元利润中的约三分之一以奖金的形式分配给其约15000名员工。IAI利润的一半将以股息的形式上缴州政府。

“目前公布的方案纲要旨在为规范所谓的薪酬异常现象设定一个时间框架，同时允许员工获得薪资晋升，”工会主席亚伊尔·卡茨告诉《防务新闻》。“新协议预计将在三周内签署。协议签署后，即可正式宣布劳资纠纷的威胁已经消除。”

尽管之前存在业务中断的威胁，但 IAI 的管理层在与政府部门的谈判中支持员工并与工会结成统一战线，声称这些资金旨在留住员工。

以色列航空工业公司（IAI）拒绝就此事置评。该部门也不愿透露协议细节，并指出“协议纲要尚未最终批准”。

扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。