According to Calcalist, the strike at Zim Integrated Shipping Services has ended after a breakthrough agreement with acquiring carrier Hapag-Lloyd, removing a key obstacle to the planned takeover.
Employees returned to work after negotiations between the workers’ union, Zim management and Hapag-Lloyd led to an agreement in principle.
Under the emerging framework, around 120 of Zim’s roughly 1,000 employees will transfer to a new Zim entity to be maintained by the FIMI fund. About 400 employees will move to the Israeli headquarters that Hapag-Lloyd plans to establish.
Hapag-Lloyd is expected to allocate at least $300 million to fund severance payments for approximately 500 employees who will retire as part of the transaction. Workers will also receive a sale-related bonus, although the amount has not yet been finalized.
Some 400 employees have already returned to the office, while the remainder continue to work remotely. All staff will receive full pay for the strike period, as well as salary grade increases that were due in January.
Union chairman Oren Caspi and Zim CEO Eli Glickman also agreed to extend the collective bargaining agreement for five years. The union insisted that employees transferring to Hapag-Lloyd formally retire from Zim before being rehired under new employment terms.
Glickman is expected to finalize the understandings with Hapag-Lloyd’s CEO this week, paving the way for the transaction to proceed.
