
The Histadrut’s construction workers union has filed a collective lawsuit against Gova, a company employing crane operators, alleging that the company failed to pay the required salary supplement for crane operators working in war zones.
Throughout the war, the construction industry has been classified as essential and has continued operating, even in areas under special emergency mandates. Crane operators worked at heights of dozens of feet in the air, equipped only with vests and helmets and with no access to protected spaces from missiles. Many crane operators reported severe anxiety during the war, working high above ground while observing missile attacks.
According to the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Hannah Schnitzer-Rahav and Oren Shrem from the Legal Bureau of the Department for Professional Unions, Gova failed to pay a risk supplement of four shekels per hour (about $1 per hour) as required by a collective agreement and a 2015 extension order. This failure occurred from October to December 2023 and again starting on September 23, 2024, when a special state of emergency was declared nationwide.
Yitzhak Moyal, Chair of the Histadrut Construction and Associated Industries Union, contacted Gova CEO Michaeli Povsky in October, demanding that the company pay the emergency supplement, including retroactively. The company’s legal representative, Tomer Mizrahi, responded that the government’s nationwide emergency declaration was “unreasonable and made without due consideration of its economic implications for the market, and thus is invalid.”
Mizrahi also noted that the company had sued the state in the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court, demanding reimbursement from the state for risk supplement payments already made to employees between January and May. Further appeals from the union to Gova were unsuccessful.
The union emphasized that crane operators continued working, relying on the promised risk compensation, while Gova continued to violate the extension order. The union has therefore asked the court to schedule a hearing on the matter as soon as possible.
The union is asking the Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court to issue an order compelling Gova to include the risk compensation in the next paycheck and to continue payments as long as the special emergency status persists. Additionally, it seeks a ruling that Gova violated the extension order and should be required to pay retroactive compensation to all employed crane operators during the relevant periods, including penalties for delayed wages due to the failure to pay on time.
Finally, the union has demanded that Gova submit a detailed report to the court on the payments made, including a list of employees compensated and the amounts refunded to each, along with supporting documentation.
“It is unacceptable to breach a collective agreement and an extension order. We will not allow this to go unnoticed,” Moyal, chair of the construction workers union, said. “We will utilize every tool at our disposal to protect the workers and ensure their rights are upheld.”
Roi Weinstein, chair of the union’s crane operators division, said that the crane operators “will not hesitate to act against anyone who prioritizes personal profit over the law.”
“Crane operators worked throughout the war, across the country, sometimes under missile attacks with no means of protection. This was done to ensure the continuity of the construction industry, which was deemed essential,” he continued. “It is only appropriate to honor them by paying the risk compensation defined in the extension order without resorting to legal proceedings.”
Gova said that the company is reviewing the claims and will respond in court. “Gova is one of the few companies in the crane operators sector that paid risk compensation to operators,” the company said. “The company has paid over half a million shekels in risk allowances since October 8, 2023, during the Swords of Iron war. The company is currently engaged in discussions with the relevant authorities regarding these payments.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Ronen Cohen.