Dairies coy on Shavuot investments
'Tis the season to gorge on cheese, or it will be very soon, and Israel's dairy manufacturers are preparing for their first Shavuot holiday since the outbreak of the cost-of-living protests last summer. The industry giant Tnuva, which slid from being one of Israel's best-loved companies to one of its most-loathed (according to surveys ), will be offering discounts on certain products (including soy-based cream ), as well as cooking classes. Strauss Group, the No. 2 dairy producer, will be handing out coupons. And Tara, far in the rear as No. 3, will be hosting a food fair. In contrast to previous years, none of the dairies are prepared to disclose how much they're investing in these marketing moves. (Adi Dovrat-Meseritz )
El Al pilots call emergency assembly
El Al pilots called a second emergency meeting this week, scheduled for today, to discuss the airline's grievous financial condition and planned cutbacks and efficiency measures. The reason for the second meeting is mainly that about half the pilots couldn't attend the first one because they were working. At today's meeting union reps will be presenting the cutbacks management is demanding of all workers, and of the pilots specifically. They'll also present other ways the pilots can help the firm fly over the bad weather. For 2011 El Al had reported losing more than $49 million. (Zohar Blumenkrantz )
Week-long Tadiran strike ends
Quiet has been restored at the Tadiran Systems plant in Holon, as a one week strike ended yesterday. But workers at parent company Elisra in Bnei Brak are still striking. Both companies develop electronic warfare systems and are subsidiaries of Elbit Systems. At Tadiran, following night-long talks, management agreed to a 2% raise for workers and to yearly bonuses of 13.5% of the firm's profit. For their part, the workers agreed not to rumble again until year-end 2017. (Haim Bior )
Watchdog: Exec pay screeched to halt in 2011
The trend of giving Israeli executives salary raises came to an abrupt end last year, according to the Israel Securities Authority. From 2003 to 2009 the average pay of 412 executives at 67 companies listed for trading in Tel Aviv had more than doubled, said ISA chief economist Gitit Gur-Gershgoren, speaking at the annual conference of the Israel Management Center yesterday. But the salaries stopped growing in 2011. The ISA thinks this is due at least in part to greater awareness among the general public, not only of the price of cottage cheese and candy bars, but of executive pay practices. (Ram Ozeri and Eran Azran )
Tel Aviv formalizes minibuses on Shabbat
The city of Tel Aviv yesterday approved a plan to run minibuses on Shabbat. The plan is rather more modest than the city's initial proposal of a couple of months ago, which had involved running regular bus lines throughout the weekend. This plan involves seven "sherut" taxi lines. But even that pared-down plan remains contingent on the approval of the Transportation Ministry. Going by precedent, that isn't likely to materialize. The plan is the brainchild of Meretz's representative in the city council, Tamar Zandberg, who said she was proud her proposal had passed, insisting that public transportation should be available on all days. "We shouldn't accept anything less," she said. (Daniel Schmil )
