Strike at ZIM headquarters disrupts port operations, adding another variable to Hapag-Lloyd's acquisition process

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According to the Israeli media Calcalist, about 900 employees subject to the collective agreement at the ZIM headquarters went on strike on the afternoon of April 17. The reason was that the union and management failed to reach an agreement in a new round of collective agreement negotiations. The strike has brought most ZIM operations in Israel to a standstill, including unloading operations at ports.

Negotiations between employers and employees are continuing this weekend and representatives from Hapag-Lloyd will also be involved. Zim management hopes to resume normal operations within the next few days. Union president Oren Caspi said Hapag-Lloyd was trying to force hundreds of employees into early retirement on conditions that conflicted with existing collective agreements. ZIM responded that although all parties had reached a preliminary consensus on the terms of the new agreement, the union still decided to launch a strike.

In February this year, Hapag-Lloyd teamed up with Israeli private equity fund FIMI to acquire all shares of ZIM for US.2 billion. At that time, about 1,000 employees at Zim's Israeli headquarters went on strike because they were worried about their rights and interests being damaged, demanding job protection and compensation. Hapag-Lloyd subsequently made work commitments and allocated at least US0 million to pay compensation for about 500 employees, and the strike was subsided. This strike again shows that labor and management have still not reached an agreement on the issue of employee rights and interests, which may have a serious impact on the acquisition process.

In addition, ZIM President and CEO Eli Glickman has announced his resignation, and the board of directors plans to initiate a successor selection in the next few weeks. Eli Glickman will remain on board with a six-month notice period to ensure a smooth transition. Hapag-Lloyd had previously optimistically expected that the acquisition transaction would be completed by the end of 2026, but the industry generally believed that the transaction may be postponed to 2027 due to multiple challenges.