A special collective agreement for the employees of Kamada

Under the agreement, employees of the biopharmaceutical company will benefit from salary increases, perseverance grants, and increased participation of the company in vacations and the catering card. Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David: “I am happy that the relationship in the company is back to normal, and from now on it will move forward.”

The Histadrut in the Negev region, the management of Kamada, and the workers’ committee have signed a special collective agreement in the company. The agreement, which will apply to about 200 employees at the company’s plant in Beit Kama, will be valid for the next eight years until the end of 2029, when several economic issues will be discussed after four years. The agreement thus ends the labor dispute in Kamada announced last December and included a strike of about two and a half months.

The agreement includes, among other things, wage increases of 12% -20% for the next four years and a commitment for provisions for a study fund from the first day of work. Also, about half of the workers will receive monetary compensation for the abolition of wage scales.

The agreement also includes increasing the reimbursement of fuel expenses, paying sick pay from day one, increasing the annual vacation budget for each employee and paying for standby hours, in addition to standby fees.

The agreement also stipulates that the company will increase the participation in the cost of the Cebus card and that employees defined as skilled will receive a supplement to their basic salary. It was also agreed to preserve the welfare budgets intended for the welfare of the employees, increase the entitlement to mothers and improve the perseverance grants for some employees. In addition, the wages of shift workers, including overtime and increased percentages, will be defined as pensionable wages – something that will significantly increase their pensions.

Kamada is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing, producing and marketing drugs using technology for the purification and separation of proteins from human plasma.

Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David: “I welcome the agreement and am happy that the relationship at Kamada is back to normal. I am sure that from now on the company will move forward for the sake of the workers and the factory. We will continue to work for workers’ rights in all sectors of the economy. “

Negev Regional Chairman Norbert Bokobza: “After two and a half months of strike, nightly negotiations, and countless phone calls, we arrived the valley of equality and were able to build a great agreement for hundreds of Kamada workers. The Histadrut has once again proved that it is the most powerful home for workers in Israel.”

Eliezer Belo, chairman of the Histadrut’s Food and Pharmaceutical Workers’ Union: “I am happy that after intensive negotiations, we were able to end the crisis at Kamada and return the factory to it’s routine. The agreement signed today is beneficial and applies to all populations of the company’s employees. Thank you to all the partners. “

Uzi Sadeh, secretary of a trade union in the Negev region: “I congratulate the workers on reaching one of the best collective agreements of its kind. I wish the parties know how to overcome the heavy rainfall and embark on a new path. ‘

Chairman of the Kamada Workers’ Committee, Moshe Harush: “At a good time, I can congratulate and announce that the struggle of the company’s employees to improve the rights of all employees is over. The struggle was accompanied by the tremendous determination of the company’s employees, who did not break down despite all the pressure exerted on them. Undoubtedly, without the employees’ determination, we would not have been able to achieve it. It is time to thank the chairman of the Histadrut, Arnon Bar-David, who supported the workers’ struggle all along, Eliezer Belo, who, without his help for days and nights in negotiations, there would be no agreement, and Norbert Bokobza who supported, assisted and accompanied the struggle from the beginning. Special thanks to Uzi Sadeh, who built the agreement. All the workers in the difficult hours and every achievement are credited to him, and to Adv. Udi Shiloni knew how to put all the achievements into a legal document. Good luck to everyone”.